


The Novice

by Five_seas



Series: Nobody Asked For This, I Wrote It Anyway [2]
Category: Shaman King (Anime & Manga), Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexuality, Bondage, Drama, F/M, I Don't Even Know, I Ship It, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I wrote it anyway, Light BDSM, PTSD, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Romance, Trauma, Trauma Recovery, nobody asked for this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-02-26 15:21:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 65,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23205268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Five_seas/pseuds/Five_seas
Summary: In retrospect, perhaps he should have done some more research before putting the word "Dungeon" in the title of his game.Or maybe not.Duke gets more than he bargained for when he goes on a "trip to check out the unconventional competition" and runs into a familiar face at his local club. Lilly Ward - charming, smart, and a dominatrix - is the last person he thought he might want, and yet, something about rules and rewards makes him wonder if having a normal relationship with someone is possible for him after all.Who knew that relinquishing control would be so liberating?Another one of the "Nobody asked for this" series.
Series: Nobody Asked For This, I Wrote It Anyway [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1668346
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Shaman King or Yu-Gi-Oh.
> 
> I'm not even sure where the idea for this came from but it did.
> 
> Ooops. 
> 
> On a more serious note, the whole household is self-isolating for 14 days, have mercy on my ass and just let me fucking indulge my sodding obsessions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Shaman King or Yu Gi Oh.
> 
> For the sake of my own sanity, the ages and timelines have been tweaked a bit in this series. I hope nobody minds.

“…and that, ladies and gentleman, is how a proper flogging is done. Any questions?”

Duke Devlin glanced at the people sitting by his side. One was a baby-faced guy who looked like he might be sick just from watching. The other was a smartly dressed woman who - from the expression on her face - wasn’t sure whether she was sorry for asking the question or turned on.

Him? All he wanted to do was not be there.

“No questions at all?” the instructor asked, then helped his demonstration partner to her feet. “Goodness, this must be the quietest group we’ve had just yet, Allison.”

“So it would seem, sir.”

“I hope I wasn’t holding back on you, my dove?”

“Not at all, sir.”

“Thought so. Go sit.” He gave her one final, playful lick of the flogger, before turning directly to Duke. “You there, young man. You look like you have some questions. Don’t tell me you’d come to an Intro to Dungeon class if you weren’t at least curious about something.”

That was what had happened exactly, though he would never admit it. 

“I er…” he swallowed “This is probably a stupid question—”

“No stupid questions in kink, meladdo. Just stupid doms. Come on, we’ve got to start from somewhere.”

And suddenly he was back in the bedroom, trying desperately not to embarrass himself. Were all doms this bossy, he wondered, or was this just an exaggeration for the class?

Of course, he could say no. First rule and everything - he could always say no. But he’d gotten the ball rolling - it was about as futile as stopping an orgasm once it was under way.

“Well,” he said. “You mentioned communication is crucial between partners. I was just wondering at what point does it… start interfering with the mood.”

The instructor - a leather-clad behemoth who had introduced himself as Baelfegor - grinned so wide, he might have pulled a muscle. Were it not for the setting, he might have looked like a proud grandpa.

“Beautiful. I love the stupid questions,” he said, and snapped his fingers. Allison appeared, holding a large sheath of papers. “What we’ve got here is an example of a checklist, ladies and gentlemen. Not a full checklist - don’t go using that on an unsuspecting person just yet - but it’s enough to get you started.”

A few people looked distinctly relieved. Paperwork. They liked paperwork. They had especially enjoyed the bit at the beginning where they all solemnly agreed not to greet each other if they met outside of the confines of the club.

Not that this was some kind of seedy den of crime, mind you. The Sword of Damocles was, in fact, one of Domino city’s best-kept secrets - a successful kink club that had both excellent profits and zero problems with crime, once the Police Commissioner and Attorney General had issued a blanked ban on prosecuting sex work. 

_ Although, is this sex? Or just a very scary contact sport? _ Duke wondered, scanning the paper Allison had passed him.

“Stupid.” The baby-faced man next to him muttered. “Anyone worth their salt would know these things, surely. I mean… who doesn’t consent to be kissed?”

“I’m so glad you raised that,” Baelfegor said. “Now, there’s different definitions going around, but generally speaking, we refer to all non-communications around pain and pleasure practices to be “vanilla” around here. That means that everything - kissing, hand holding, the missionary position - is expected to be negotiated around here, because you don’t know what your partner is bringing to the table until you ask them.”

“Preposterous!” the man said. Later that night, he went on to declare that this was a waste of time and left.

Baelfegor sighed dramatically. Then, addressing the room, he went on as if nothing had happened. “If you take one thing away from today, ladies and gentlemen, let it be this: negotiation is never un-sexy. Negotiation lets us be ourselves.”

Duke stayed until the end of the class.

***

It started, as it always did, with someone walking into his shop with completely the wrong idea.

“No,” he said, trying to be as patient as possible, “We don’t sell latex suits, or whips, or any of the items you described. This is a _ games _ shop, for Dungeons and Dice Monsters.”

The customer had left visibly disappointed, even if he’d perused some of the wares anyway. Sometimes they came back, Duke thought, having expressed a genuine interest in what he was selling. Unfortunately, they never made back the income from scandalized mothers who overheard their conversation, either.

_ Why, oh why, did he not spend more time researching the word ‘dungeon’ before naming his entire concept after it? _

Incidents like that had been happening a lot lately. Even some of his new investors seemed to think he was running something more adult from his back room, despite multiple assurances that this was not the case. The only one who saw any kind silver lining was Maximilian Pegasus - his first ever partner and possibly the closest thing Duke had to a mentor in this world. 

Unfortunately, Pegasus also had a sense of humor that put teenage boys to shame.

“Now, now, Duke-boy, don’t be sad,” he told him, when hearing about his protege’s latest woe. “Think of this as an opportunity to explore new markets. Maybe there’s an overlap between your game and the kinds of pain your… new customers are looking for.”

That was the thing. He wasn’t sure he wanted new customers.

But even if Pegasus teased him about expanding his range, he wouldn’t let Duke off the hook on researching his competition at least. Being caught out once was embarrassing - being caught out twice was just plain asking for trouble. Businesses that buried their heads in the sand missed out on opportunities and deals that would have saved them in the long run, and the owner of Industrial Illusions would be damned if he let this investment go that way. 

“Just do an incognito search, for crying out loud,” he’d said. And Duke had promised he would.

Which was how he found the Sword of Damocles ran intro classes to BDSM, as well as orientations to their club for curious bystanders. This put a whole new dilemma on the table - did he want to just read the (many, many, many) pages with explanations and rules and tasteful black-and-white glamour shots of the staff, or did he want to go the full way and just see for himself? Duke didn’t consider himself a timid man, but for some reason, both options terrified him equally.

He remembered that night now, as he listened to Baelfegor explain the differences between SSC-type kink and RACK. He’d read until his eyes couldn’t process the words anymore. He’d studied each photograph in depth. He’d spent an embarrassing amount of time on a shot of a tall man. He was dressed in leather pants and nothing else, and had a beautiful kneeling at his feet, her cheek resting against his thigh. His hand was caressing her dark hair in obvious affection and no matter how hard he tried, Duke had not been able to look away.

“So!” Baelfegor’s voice brought him back to reality. “Who wants to come back on Wednesday to see the Dungeon?”

***

“—AND FUCKING FLOSS, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” Lilly screamed into the phone, then slammed the receiver for good measure. 

The last thing she heard from her client was a satisfied moan. Then the line went dead, and she proceeded to write her notes on the spiral notepad at her elbow. 

Three minutes later, Suzie, the switchboard operator, walked by and told her that he had immediately rebooked - same time, two days from now. 

Gods, but she loved her job. 

“Tooth Fairy again?” Bryan asked, leaning against her booth as Suzie retreated.

Lilly gave him a filthy look. “Seriously, first Hannibal, then Red Dragon, and now the Tooth Fairy. What is with you and Thomas Harris anyway?”

“You’re not the only one listening in on those calls, sugar. I would never want to be caught in a dark alley with one of your boys.”

_ You got no idea, _ she thought, smiling wryly. “You have insurance for this shit. Now, are you done with the verbal foreplay, or will you make me beg to know why you’re here?”

“Mistress! I’m hurt! Can I not just check in on my favorite girl?”

_ Begging it was, then. _

She leaned back in the chair, making sure not to hit the sequence on her line that stopped any calls coming in. The other operators had computers for this - easy, one click solutions. She wasn’t allowed a computer. 

Bryan was wearing his “Instructor” disguise: fitted black pants and a bowtie. Dread knotted in her stomach. 

“I take it the induction went well,” she said. “You haven’t torn the shackles of conformity yet.”

On cue, he loosened the tie. “Seriously, vanillas are so easy. A tiny bit of skin and they think you’re a pervert.”

“As opposed to when they meet you in real life, and realize you really are a pervert?”

He flicked her nose. She made a biting motion.

“Seriously, what is it? Because I’m still on the clock, you know.” All around them, the sounds of moans, pants, and whips ebbed and flowed. Anyone listening in would have thought an orgy was happening. Anyone looking through the soundproof glass would have thought they were overseeing an accountant’s office. 

Lilly tried to get in the act, she really did. But it was just not possible to put on a sexy face when all she had to look at was a puke green partition and a poster saying: _ Save a horse. Ride that cowboy. _

Bryan let out a beleaguered sigh. “Listen, I know you wanted to take a break from the face-to-face stuff, but—”

She let out a loud groan. “Damn it, man. I asked you not to push me into this.”

“Hear me out before you sever my balls, Lilith of the Dead,” he said. “LeShawn just called in. Apparently he broke his wrist at roller derby. That’s fine - it’s not his dominant hand - but it does mean I’m one short for the Dungeon Tour.”

“Can’t Kiera do it?”

“Down with the flu.”

“And Massimo?”

“His boyfriend is going in for surgery this week. Please,” he said, holding out his hands. “I’m begging you, and you know how much it hurts me to beg. I wouldn’t be asking this if I didn’t have to.”

Lilly sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

She could say no. She could always say no. The junior kinksters would just have to come back for another round of discipline if one of the stations had to be closed.

_ But it’s been three months! _

Three months of only sticking to the phone. Three months of keeping to the well-worn path. Three months of being weary of her own shadow. Two of those months had been _ after _ the danger had well and truly passed. For someone as proud as her, this was un-fucking-acceptable.

Plus, she was bored.

Bored and annoyed were a terrible combination.

“Fine,” she said. “But you’re paying me double for that.”

“Love you, doll,” Bryan said, pumping his fist in the air. “And who knows? Maybe one of the vanillas will finally tempt you to play hard again.”

Lilly snorted as she shooed him away and took her next call. 

She did like to play hard. But with someone fresh out of their first Orientation?

Highly unlikely.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Shaman King or Yu Gi Oh.
> 
> I am, however, self-isolating and bored. So... yeah. That spells bad things for these characters. Or good things, depending on how you slice it.

The ghosts always arrived before she drifted off to sleep.

Lilly never learned their reasoning, nor did she push them too far on it. Half the work of being who she was - a ghost-seer, a warrior, a fucking woman trying to function in this world - was knowing just how much to listen to and when to tune out. Sometimes the things she learned were important, life-saving even. Mostly, though, it was just plain misery.

_ …my daughter left me in the cold…_

_…hate that stupid bastard…_

_…please tell Father…_

_…love him…_

_…hate her…_

_…never again! _

She inhaled slowly, held, and exhaled even slower.

Some nights, she made a game of it. How long could she extend the process before her brain called her a crazy bitch and demanded that she pay attention to the obvious danger around her. Other times, she managed to lull herself to sleep - she couldn’t banish the dreams, but she could at least say she’d closed her eyes and rested. 

_ Please!_

_…please…_

_I’m begging you, please tell…_

_Please… _

Tonight was not one of those nights. Tonight, Lilly was throwing in her towel, throwing off her covers, and running for the ice-cream. 

She found Sally had beaten her to it. Her roommate was sitting in front of the TV, a carton of Cookies and Cream balanced on her knee, as she watched some sort of B-movie with rubber tentacles and too much screaming. “Damn it. I was looking forward to that.”

“There’s still more than half left,” the redhead said, holding it out. “Take it. I’m regretting my weakness already.”

Lilly studied her hand in the blue light. There were fresh bruises on it, new scratches. 

She could ignore it. Probably ought to. But she wasn’t that kind of domme. “Fighting again? I thought you said you weren’t doing that anymore.”

Anybody else would have gotten defensive. Sally just shrugged. “Your friend Allison said she needed back up for a job. Turned out for a good reason.”

The room suddenly got darker. Lilly had to make an active effort to taper her powers. “Oh, yeah?” she asked. “Do I need to kill anybody?” 

“Nah.” Sally smirked. “It’s all taken care of.”

They watched the rubber monsters take over the world. Or tried to, of course. There was a dashing, square-jawed man in the movie, and you could never trust a square-jaw. They always ruined the fun.

“How much longer until things settle down, do you think?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh, come on. The last time we had a flare-up like that was just before Millie got her first period. You’re leveling up - no shame there. I just want to know if I have to keep my mouth shut around you.”

Lilly shoveled some ice cream in her mouth. 

In truth, their powers were a bitch on a regular day. For a long time, too, the only frame of reference they’d had was themselves - her, Sally, Sharona, Ellie and her little sister, Millie. Five girls, so similar in their powers, and yet so totally mismatched. 

“Best theory I have is that stress was suppressing us,” she said, finally. “Now that it’s over, we’re all catching up.”

“That makes sense,” Sally said, face carefully blank. 

“You’re not about to apologize, are you?”

“You ordered me not to.”

“You don’t care about my orders,” Lilly said, brandishing her spoon. “You’re no sub, Sarah-Jane Ward.”

There was a smile tugging at the corners of her friend’s mouth. “You’d be surprised.” She leaned back. “But nah - I promise, I wasn’t wallowing again. Regardless of whose fault I think the last year has been, we’re back on track now. I’m not going to drag us down with more regrets.”

“I’d say we’re better off than ever,” Lilly said, looking around.

“Semantics.”

Was it, though? She looked around their apartment - the floor was so new, it still had sawdust on it. When they’d moved in over the weekend, Lilly had worried about the echo, and how none of them had any furniture to dampen their voices ringing everywhere. But still… it was big. It was theirs. And they paid for it with real, legit work, something that they’d thought completely out of their league just a few months ago.

The movie was drawing to an end - square-jawed hero saved the day! - when Sally asked her what had driven her out of bed. “You’re usually a stickler for your routine,” she explained.

To fess up or not... she suddenly wasn't in a sharing mood. “I told Bryan I was gonna help with the Dungeon Tour tomorrow night. Guess my brain is more switched on than usual.”

“Haven’t you done these a million times before?”

She had. 

What she hadn’t done is told her friends she’d taken a step back from the face-to-face side of her work. Or why.

“It’s just a lot of unfamiliar people all at once,” she lied, as smoothly as she could. “You never know what could happen with newbies.”

***

Duke was hedging his bets.

On the one hand, if he kept up on this report, he’d be stuck on his computer until well into the night. On the other, The Sword of Damocles was only a couple of blocks away. He was risking precious time with his friends for the sake of his business. But then again, his time with his friends had gotten progressively more difficult ever since Tristan and Serenity had gotten together, _ officially _ that is. 

As if he’d summoned them, he felt his phone vibrate with an upcoming message from Yugi. _ Hitting up the Kaiba Land arcade in thirty. Joey says he wants to see whether your game runs on their systems. _

Duke sighed, tapping his reply. 

_ Another time, sorry. I’m spoken for tonight. _

Whether it was his computer or… well… whatever Orientation was, he was spoken for. He wasn’t lying.

He was being kind.

The clock ticked on, and the report was really starting to flow. At this rate, he could legitimately pull an all-nighter and he wouldn’t feel bad.

So why was it that at nine o’clock precisely, he was closing down the shop to visit a BDSM den?

_ I’m self-destructive. Must be. I always seek out my own misery, _ he thought, smiling and showing his ticket to the bouncer at front.

As with the first night, all the lights inside the club were on and the music was lowered to an absolute whisper. He handed his phone and jacket at the front desk, and then he was led through a maze of corridors, past the room they’d had their intro class and deeper into the building than he thought it possible.

“Here we go,” said his guide, smiling politely. “Don’t forget to ask questions, sir. Enjoy.”

Duke opened his mouth to say thank you…

…then the curtain lifted, and his jaw stopped working.

He was expecting something more akin to a Medieval torture chamber. Racks, Judas Chairs, that sort of thing. Instead, it was more like an art exhibition. People were milling about - people in suits, people in costume, even a few naked people. There were several large pieces of equipment around the room, and stations across the floor, for binding, for pain, for… for… he didn’t have words for it. 

But he was staring. Like some thirteen year-old virgin with his first porn magazine. 

_ Get it together, Devlin. _ He thought and tried to look politely interested as he slowly started walking around.

He’d look. Just look. There was no harm in just looking.

“Hey, it’s you!”

Baby-face was back, apparently. And he’d brought a girlfriend.

“I remember you from the lecture,” he said, enthusiastically. The girl looked vaguely interested… although she seemed far more fascinating by a large Saltire on the opposite wall. “You’re the one who created that Dungeons and Dice Monsters game, aren’t you?”

“Er… I work in the field of board games,” Duke said, feeling supremely uncomfortable. “Erm… shall we go over that way?” he asked, when the girl didn’t tear her eyes away from the diagonal cross. “I mean, I’d love a closer look.”

“I know we’re not supposed to talk to each other outside of the club,” Baby-face babbled on as they walked. “But I figured we’re all here now, and Statute of Secrecy is in place. I bet this is totally routine for you, right? I mean… Dungeons and Dice Monsters! It’s totally in the name.”

“I’m just here to learn new things,” he replied, wishing an earthquake would happen already.

“Oh, I bet you do. Hey, Doll, did you hear that? We’ve got a celebrity in our midst!”

“Please,” Duke said, as a few people turned to look over. “I’m not really here in that way. Honest. I’m just a guy.”

“Yeah? Slumming it, are you?” Baby-face suddenly seemed furious. “Laughing at us behind our backs, up in your golden tower? Well, let me tell you something, Mr Money-bags, I—”

His companion - Doll, whatever - put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. Not hard, but it stopped the flow of words instantly. Then, without so much as glance in Duke’s direction, she started dragging Baby-face toward the door, barely stepping out of people’s way.

“The hell…” Duke muttered under his breath.

“There’s always one,” a low voice said behind him. There was a click-click-click of heels, and then a tall woman appeared into the corner of his eye. 

“One what?” he asked, still mostly focused toward the door. He had the strangest feeling of being under attack. 

“Boundary-pusher. Usually we weed them out on the first night, but one or two slip through the net. Are you okay there?” 

“Yeah, sure,” he said, finally turning to face her like a gentleman. Then his throat went dry, as his thoughts turned… distinctly un-gentlemanly. 

She was wearing a pencil skirt and white blouse, buttoned all the way up to the chin. Her sleeves were rolled up and she had her dark green hair in a bun that showed off her tiny ears and long neck. 

But the kicker were the glasses. 

With their thick frames and obviously large lenses, they ought to have been ugly as hell, or at least too pretentious for this place. Not on her, though. Somehow, in combination with everything else, they made her look more appealing than anybody he’d ever seen.

And she was staring at him, waiting for his answer. Duke desperately tried to get his mouth to work. “He was just… I er…”

“Sucks, doesn’t it, when the outside world comes in?” she asked, voice friendly and light. 

“Yeah—”

“Sucks even more when you’re just trying to enjoy some downtime on your own. That really blows.”

And just like that, he immediately stopped lusting after her. 

Okay, not _ in that instant _ since he was still a guy, and semis don’t just go away on their own. But the mental shift went, in the span of several seconds, from “mentally undressing” to “damn it, this person is cool.”

“Got it in one,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

She smiled. “Sorry you had to put up with that. Let’s hope his lady-friend sorts him out.” 

“Are you… um… sorry, I’m not trying to put my foot in or anything…”

“You can call me Mistress Lilith. I’m one of the people that works here.” She stretched an arm out. The gesture - so banal in his day to day life - seemed so out of place in a club with its own rack, Duke froze. Then, thinking that this was the best thing to do, he bowed and kissed the back of her hand.

“No need for that,” she laughed, but the look in her eyes was pleased when he straightened up. “Is there anything in particular that you were interested in learning about tonight, Mr Devlin?”

“You know my name?”

“It’s on the guest list.”

Of course it was. He’d bought a ticket. He’d used a credit card. 

And he was talking to a lovely woman who seemed to know her way around all of this.

_ In for a penny, _ he decided. “I have no idea, if I’m honest.”

“Honesty is good.” She gestured around them. “Have a look around. What’s the first thing that captures your attention?”

He did as told - if only because this was her domain and he was a guest. There was an area where a man was trotting around like a pony. There was a part of the club where a young woman was being tied up in an elaborate way so that Baelfegor might suspend her from the ceiling. There was a wall covered in whips and chains and floggers.

Then his eyes drifted to the diagonal cross that Doll had been so drawn to earlier. He knew what it was for - he could see the padded cuffs at the top and bottom, and the table that was laden with riding crops, canes, and cat-o-nine-tails. He knew instinctively that if he went anywhere near it, he would hurt real bad. 

“Want to give it a go?” Lilith asked, following his gaze.

“I’m not sure how good I am with pain,” he said. His voice sounded strange, even to his own ears.

“No worries. You can just try out how it feels to be restrained there.”

“Really?” Duke asked, following her to the implement. “I mean… it’s okay for guys to do it?”

She burst out laughing. “Are you kidding me? The guys love it the most.”

***

Lilly took the man’s wrists and bound them with detached cuffs at first. Restricting movement, but not so much that he couldn’t run off if he didn’t like it. “Let’s start simple. How do you feel?”

He nodded, jade green eyes darkening. “Good. Great, actually.”

“Any panic? Sudden desire to tear this off and run?”

He pulled at the restraints, once, twice. The veins on his forearms bulged as he tried to break free, to no avail. She was mildly impressed - for such a skinny man, Duke Devlin had a lot of strength in him. 

Pity he didn’t remember their first meeting.

Then again, she’d been sweaty, disheveled, and then, later, electrocuted, so maybe that was all for the best.

“I can’t get out,” he said, voice full of wonder. “Wow.”

“Want me to free you?”

“Maybe. If it’s to tie me to that,” he said, nodding at the St Andrew’s cross.

Initiative. She liked that. 

“Facing away from the room might be a good idea,” she suggested. “Some people are self-conscious.”

He nodded, eyes darkening even further. 

She smiled and started to fasten him to the cross. Some of the other people glanced at them as she worked, but for the most part, they were pretty much left alone to do as they wanted. That was good. She could enjoy herself without feeling self-conscious.

He did have a very nice body, she thought as she worked. Slim hips and even slimmer legs, he had that androgynous look that she liked in a man. Her friends constantly made fun of her for her love of K-Pop and Bowie, but honestly, she gave as good as she got whenever she caught a glimpse of their preferred types. Duke Devlin was undeniably male, despite his slimness and his long hair, but the way he relaxed into the restraints, the way his breathing deepened as he leaned into the cross, was as beautiful to her as any Brad Pitt look-alike was to one of her roommates.

_ Down, girl, _ she thought. _ You don’t want to frighten him. _

“Right, hands are tied,” she said. “Still good?”

Duke hummed, low in his throat, as he rested his cheek against the hardwood. His pupils looked dilated already.

“Well?” she asked.

“Do people ever fall asleep here?” he asked. “Because this feels really comfortable.”

She chuckled and tried not to do something forward, like patting him on the cheek or ruffling his hair. Really, too adorable. “More often than you think. Though, once you start with one of the toys, they wake up pretty quickly.”

He looked at the implements table, visibly sizing them up. Was he thinking about using one himself? Or was he thinking about trying one of them out tonight? She’d disinfected all her tools in advance, although it wasn’t common for her to use them on someone on their first night. 

“Want me to let you down?” she asked.

“Not yet.” He took a few steps, as if trying to loosen his hips. “My feet are still free.”

“You sure?”

“I trust you. Plus, everyone left their phones at the coat check,” he said, smiling. 

Ignoring the first bit, Lilly knelt down and guided his foot into the shackle. Maybe she could offer to give him a taste of some of the toys after all. Was he just naive? Or — she amended, looking up at his groin — maybe he wasn’t as new to this as he thought.

Well, there wasn’t a need to point it out. Standing up, she could see Duke had relaxed completely into the position, his breathing deep and slow. Had it not been for the heated look he was giving her, she would have sworn he was asleep. 

“How do you feel?” 

“I don’t know,” he admitted, blinking a few times. “I… can’t get out.”

“That’s right. What else?”

“And… I don’t know. I guess… calm? I—” Duke frowned. “It’s not a bad feeling. It reminds me of when I go running, except it usually takes me half a dozen miles to get to this. But I don’t have a name for it.”

“Subspace.”

“What?”

“We call that subspace. Don’t worry - I can recommend a few books to you on your way out.”

He nodded, although he didn’t seem to fully comprehend what she’d said. Perhaps that was to be expected. Although…

This was surprising to her. The last time she’d met Duke Devlin, she’d gotten the impression he was one of those quiet guys who turned super-Alpha on a battle field or in the bedroom. Well… he was clearly letting loose here, but not in the way she thought.

And he was absolutely gorgeous.

Lilly inhaled slowly, and counted to ten. She was working tonight. And she didn’t fuck clients. If she wanted to kneel in front of Duke and explore all of his favorite inches, she had to do so on her own time and with care. 

“I’ll let you down now,” she said.

He let out a sound that sounded like disappointment, but did as he was told, allowing her to undo his binds and then lead him to one of the padded chairs around the wall. She made sure he was sitting upright, then went to pour him a glass of water. He seemed pretty spaced out when she came back, and even after drinking he wasn’t the soul of coherence.

“Wow,” he muttered. “That… was unexpected.”

Lilly gave him a cheery smile. “Take your time, okay. First dungeon is always full of surprises.”

He chuckled. “I don’t know whether to be scared or excited.”

“That happens.”

“Do er… do you feel that way when you’re tied up?”

“No,” she said, barely suppressing the twinge in her voice. “I don’t get tied up.”

Duke’s eyes widened. The realization started to dawn on him - even if he didn’t have the vocabulary for it - of what his reaction meant. And then the fear came.

“I… I think I need to go,” he said, standing up quickly. He looked around for a place to put his glass, then handed it to her. “I… er… thank you. For the demonstration. And um… for looking after me. I just remembered that I left something very important at home. Um… thank you, Mistress. Er…”

“Go on,” she said, stepping back. “May I recommend asking the front desk to call you a taxi?”

“No, I… I live nearby. Just a couple of blocks, actually. I… thank you. Goodnight.”

“Damn,” Bryan said, ambling up to her as Duke scurried out of the club as quickly as his dignity allowed. “What happened there, then?”

“Denial.” She sighed, looking down at the glass in her hands. “It was a shame, too. I would have played with him in my own time.”

Bryan let out a low whistle. “Well, then…” he said. “I’m disappointed for you in that case. You look like you could have used it.”

Lilly shook her head, then walked over to the bar. She took her time washing the glass and hanging it up, her old habits kicking in even though it had been years since she poured a pint to anyone. “It’s all for the best,” she said, more to herself than Bryan. “I probably won’t see him again.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Shaman King or Yu Gi Oh.
> 
> I do seem to be rather short on the kind of reading material that I want, so I'm making it up as I go along.

He saw her again the very next day. 

The weird feeling - no, not the arousal, that was something else - hit him on his way home from the club. He was too focused on getting out and clearing his head to process everything, but with every step he took, the stronger the sense became. 

_ I know her from somewhere. _

This was, of course, ridiculous. For one thing, he would have remembered meeting anyone this striking, surely. For another, even if he hadn’t remembered her, he would have remembered his reaction - a reaction that was becoming more and more prominent as he moved. Duke had to practically sprint the last few yards to his home. 

After that, he’d been too busy taking care of his problem to think too deeply about where, exactly he might have met a professional Dominatrix. Unfortunately, even though he spent the night reliving every moment of their encounter in the club, he didn’t put his finger on _ how _ and _ where _ until the next day, when he stumbled into Industrial Illusions to discuss something with his chief investor.

Not that he was intending for things to go that way.

“Duke-boy!” Maximilian Pegasus exclaimed, greeting him at the foyer. “You look absolutely wretched!”

“Sorry, sir,” he said, wincing. “I er… I didn’t sleep all that well.”

The older man frowned, looking down at him. “Hm, yes… you do seem like you could do with a few more z’s, that’s for sure. I hope you weren’t spending your time making new tweaks on the game, though. My engineers have just figured out how to scale up the arenas so that we can switch between the regular Duel Monsters and your Dungeons and Dice without having to reshuffle the whole field.”

He listened with half an ear as Pegasus went on and on about the changes. And, in fairness, the new arena they showed him looked fantastic. He was sure that, once he had a chance to play a real game, he’d fall in love with it even more.

Unfortunately, all he could think about was the fact that, apparently, his bad run with women wasn’t just due to rotten luck.

“…and of course, at the end, the winner will eat all the monsters of their opponent.”

“Makes sense, sir.” Then he blinked. “I mean… er…”

“Gotcha,” Pegasus said, winking and pointing at him. “You found yourself a ladyfriend, didn’t you?”

“What, no!”

“Oh, apologies. A gentleman friend then?”

“No, sir, I…”

“Oh, come now, don’t look so glum.” Pegasus slapped him on the back, making him stumble forward a little. “Any nice girl or boy would be lucky to have you. Plus, a bit of love does the mind good.”

“I assure you, this is not the case.”

“No?” They walked into a new direction. “Well, then, I suppose I have no choice but to do some matchmaking of my own. Have you seen my engineering department, Duke my friend?”

He barely had time to say that he hadn’t when he was ushered through a set of double doors. Half a dozen people looked up from their computers to study him - another six kept their eyes focused firmly on their screens. Pegasus made a few introductions, then steered him towards a window seat where a blonde woman tapped away at a simulation.

“Duke Devlin, let me introduce you to Sharona Ward - one of the angels in charge of your arena project and by far the person I have to make the most amends to.”

“You sure do,” she said, pushing her glasses on the top of her head and giving Duke a polite smile. “Hello, sir.”

He shook her hand, as awkwardly as a boy in kindergarten. This was so humiliating!

“Now, Duke-boy,” Pegasus went on, “Sharona here is not on the market anymore. However, she does have _ three _ very eligible friends, and each of them will be a delight for you to meet. Isn’t that right, my dear?”

“They are menaces in heels,” the blonde woman said. “And didn’t I ask you to cut out the matchmaking efforts, boss?”

“But how can I? An old man needs to do something with his time, you know, after all you young ones take the fun parts of my work away.”

Sharona rolled her eyes, then smiled again at Duke. “Please ignore him. He’s punishing me for sassing him in front of my boyfriend.”

“I love your sass, darling. I just wish the best for you and your own.”

“As it happens, sir, I’ve already met Mr. Devlin, and so did my friends,” she said, then nodded at Duke. “Although you probably won’t recognize me from then. We met each other in the park a few months ago. Seto and Mokuba Kaiba introduced us.”

Duke’s mind whirred. He did remember something… running into the Kaiba brothers in the park when he was out with Yugi and the others… Joey had been teasing the elder one, trying to goad him into a fight, when Mokuba had called someone over…

“One of your friends was on the skating platform,” he muttered, then blushed at the next memory he got. “And you were… err…”

“Working out, yes. Seto was rather mean, dragging us to the duel like that.”

“Oh, no, I promise, I didn’t remember that…” Duke started, then froze as the memory hit him. Hard. Joey and Kaiba, bickering. A low whistle. Then, a sultry voice asking _ So how long have the two of you been together, then? _

Her hair had been down instead of up, flowing past her shoulders like black silk. And she’d been wearing dark glasses against the glare of the sun. But there was no mistaking the voice, the sensual curve of the mouth… and that _ body _. Gods above and below, he’d noticed that body.

Duke struggled to keep up with the conversation, but most of his brain faculties were directed at that memory, and trying to piece together exactly what had happened. He knew that Seto Kaiba was seeing someone now - there had been a picture in the papers, a smattering of speculation before the paps had gotten bored with the news - but he’d never connected her to the woman he’d met in the park months ago. In fairness, he’d been too busy trying to capture Serenity’s attention at the time, but how had he ignored something as obvious as that. Especially when…

His breath caught. “That power surge!” he gasped. “It hit you guys, didn’t it? I had completely forgotten about that.”

Sharona winced. “Yeah, that was us.” She rolled her neck around. “That was a bit embarrassing.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t… I’m so sorry. I remembered the holograms and then the light and…” And then Kaiba had leapt off the platform and started shouting for the power supply to be cut off. The room had plunged into darkness. By the time he and the others had rushed to the other side of the arena, most of Sharona’s friends had been sitting up… all with the exception with the woman in front of him, who’d been convulsing so hard he was afraid she might have a heart attack. 

Duke glanced at Sharona’s desk and, sure enough, there was a picture of her, a young girl, and three other women. Only one of them had green hair. 

She looked significantly younger, in what he could only describe as a “nerdy preppy” look. She also seemed a lot less confident than from before. 

And her name wasn’t Lilith. He was sure she hadn’t been introduced as Lilith to him. Something similar, but not quite. A flower. It rhymed with the other four…

“Your friends… one of them was called Lilly, right?” he asked.

Sharona nodded and, sure enough, pointed at the green-haired girl in the picture. “She’s also one of my roommates,” she said, affectionately. “I could give you her number--”

“Would you?”

“--But I have to warn you first. She’ll eat you alive.”

***

Lilly glared at her friends. “So, run this by me again… you think that I’m in a funk, and that the best way to cure me is by setting me up on a blind date?”

“Oh, don’t give me that stink eye, missy,” Sharona said, as she pulled outfits from the closet. From the other room, she could hear Sally doing the same. The benefit of living with four other women - tons and tons of clothes to choose from.

She wasn’t feeling it at all.

“And you don’t think that maybe, just maybe, I might have work tonight?”

“We called Bryan. He said you’re not scheduled tonight. He also says to knock yourself out since you were so disappointed on Tuesday,” Sally said, as she came in.

Lilly groaned and feel back on the bed. “For the last time, I wasn’t disappointed, I was—”

“Sad? Blue-balled? All riled up with no-one to beat?” 

“Yes, all of those things. How, exactly, is this going to help me?”

Her friends paused and looked at each other. Then Sharona sat down on the bed and took her hand. “Lilly, sweetheart… I know you don’t like to hear this… but your powers aren’t exactly subtle when you’re upset.”

“What she means is that there are ghosts in the apartment day and night, and it’s fucking hard to get rid of all of them.” 

Lilly rolled her eyes and considered fighting them on this. They could no more force her to go to this date than they could turn the tides of the sea. 

“I can easily find a guy to shag all by myself, you know that, right?”

“So why haven’t you?”

“I’m busy.”

Sharona and Sally snorted simultaneously and then resumed their outfit coordinating. Lilly crossed her arms. “It’s the truth!”

“Being busy never stopped you before,” Sally pointed out. “If anything, being busy always seemed to spur you on.”

That… was actually true. But it was still a low blow - she could hardly tell little white lies to the women who used to pick her up from all over town to avoid her the bus ride of shame every morning. “You do realize,” she said, changing tack, “that as soon as the guy asks me what I do for a living, it’ll be over, right?”

“So lie. Tell him you work at a call center,” Sally replied. “That’s what you used to do, right?”

Sure. But it didn’t please her to say those things. She wasn’t ashamed of who she was, and dealing with idiots who didn’t get it was not worth her while. Really, she couldn’t believe Sharona had even attempted it.

“I’m still not comfortable with going into this without any prep,” Lilly said. “What if he’s an axe murderer? Or worse - what if he’s vanilla!”

“If he were a murderer, he’d be swimming in vengeful ghosts, and we would have been able to see it from miles away,” Sharona said. “As for the vanilla thing, I have no way of verifying that for sure, but he wasn’t deterred by my cautioning him. And I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t fuck him if he weren’t your type, anyway.”

Lilly groaned. “Did you honestly pre-empt everything I was going to say?”

“I don’t know. Maybe if you told me the real reason you are resisting this, I will be more understanding.”

Maybe she would, but she also knew Lilly would rather chew her own arm off before she confessed. So instead of being honest, she feigned. “I thought Seto was the Dominant in your relationship.”

“The keyword, my dear, is “my relationship”. As in, my relationship with him. I’m still your leader, and I refuse to let you bury yourself alive out because you’re experimenting with stoicism.”

She turned to Sally. “Please tell me you don’t condone this!”

The redhead shrugged. “You do look like you could use a good shag.”

_ And then there was that. _

“How do I even know if this guy is a good shag if you won’t tell me anything about him?”

“You do like the rest of us and you go out on dates. You get a coffee, then a drink, and you determine whether he can be housetrained or not. And since Sharona is setting you up, you can at least surmise he has potential.”

“Argh!”

There was no winning with these two. 

Really, Lilly ought to know better. Their powers were all tied to their emotions, and lately, coming home to the apartment felt like walking into a minefield. Puberty was hitting Millie hard. Ellie’s soul was in turmoil as she was trying to figure out what to do with her life. Sharona was newly in love, which meant she saw everything through a cloud of roses and hearts. She was insufferable on a good day. And Sally…

Sally was worse than them all. Sally, for all her attempts at hiding it, was in such a dark melancholy that Lilly couldn’t be around her for long periods of time without wanting to sob uncontrollably. She kept meaning to broach the subject, but her friend was not easily put in a talking mood, and this was a difficult thing.

Unfortunately, it was Lilly’s powers that were the most treacherous, only one they considered to have a “true mind of their own”. She could meditate until the cows come home and her spiritual energy did whatever the hell it wanted. While her friends were off-base about the cause, it was only a matter of time before they stumbled on the real reason why she was such a mess. 

She couldn’t have that. Neither could they, and they would badger her to take care of herself until she caved in.

Picking up a lilac dress off the bed, she stood up and held it up to herself. “One date,” she said. “And then you promise to leave me alone.”

“Of course,” Sharona agreed. “Why would we not?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Shaman King or Yu Gi Oh.
> 
> I am, however, self-isolating and bored af.

The text came as he was closing down the shop. 

_ Hey, this is Lilly. My friends think we should hang out. _

Duke inhaled sharply, then looked around as if afraid to find the whole of Domino city looking over his shoulder. He was waiting for this - he’d even practiced what we was going to say - but now, his fingers were frozen over the keypad of his phone, unable to send a simple ‘hi, my name is’ text back.

Her follow-up pinged his phone before he’d managed to regain higher motor function. 

_ There’s a coffee shop on 3rd and 115th, opposite the Museum. I’m planning on being there between 7 and 9. You should be able to find me easily - I have green hair. _

Duke nodded his head. He knew that coffee shop - it had great WiFi and even greater snacks. But he was mildly shocked at how cavalier she was about setting this up. Did she not even care to check she had the right number? Or did she have no faith in mankind and was trying to get out of this as fast as possible.

He’d been mulling over this thing from the moment he’d left Industrial Illusions and all throughout the day. He had a very specific sequence of events in his mind that he wanted to follow - introduce himself immediately, apologize for running away from her, and then ask her if he could buy her a drink in apology. But something about her tone - the terse, business-like nature of it all - threw him off for a loop. She wasn’t really asking him if he wanted to go for a coffee - she was informing him of her plans and letting him decide whether or not he wanted to join her.

Maybe this was a bad idea after all.

Duke glanced at the clock. He had two hours - surely he had a bit of time to mull this over first.

***

Lilly turned a page and fought the urge to fidget. _ You deal with scary people for a living, _ she reminded herself as she tried to follow the plot. _ One stupid coffee date isn’t going to break you. _

And yet, the words kept blurring in front of her eyes. If someone asked her about the names of the characters, she wouldn’t have been able to answer. Which was a crying shame in of itself - the novel was about a band of merry tricksters and conmen who were going on the ultimate heist in some kind of Medieval fantasy land. Any other day, and she would have been eating it up. _ If this guy ruins this book for me, I would be pissed, _ she thought, stubbornly refusing to look at the clock.

She was early. She’d deliberately arrived a good hour in advance so that she could scope the place and plan out an exit strategy. She couldn’t be mad at him not arriving _ before _ the window she’d given him had even started. 

_ Lilly, that’s just mean, _ Sharona had said, when she’d seen the text she’d sent the mysterious man. And though - to her - it had been a perfectly reasonable overture, Lilly had felt a twinge of shame nonetheless.

_ I am mean - the sooner he realizes this, the better, _ she’d replied.

There was a reason she tended to stick to her kink buddies from work, damn it. They knew what to expect and so did she. They negotiated their scenes, set their boundaries, confirmed hard limits, and then enjoyed themselves because all the uncertainty and fear had been addressed in advance. Debt and desperation may have led her to being a professional dominatrix, but Lilly was sure she’d have gotten into BDSM eventually. Vanilla sex - hell, vanilla dating - was just too full of old scripts and games of broken telephone to be enjoyable.

“Um… Lilly?”

She looked up, and, like a complete ditz, dropped her book. 

“You—” she started, then stopped herself before she broke the rule of the club. “I know you.” 

“I know, small world,” Duke Devlin said, smiling shyly. 

Her mind reeled. “I… erm…” She scrambled for something intelligent to say. “Well, good thing I’m not covered in blood, sweat and vomit this time.”

_ Oh, dear God, can you be any more cringy? _

Devlin just laughed, the bastard. In fact, he seemed remarkably at ease about this interaction. 

_ Right. Because he already saw my picture on Sharona’s desk and he’s had time to put two and two together. _

Lilly wasn’t so optimistic as to assume he wouldn’t recognize her the third time around. Glasses and hairstyles only went so far to hide one’s identity, and she was no Clark-fucking-Kent. Which only begged the question - why the hell hadn’t he introduced himself over the phone? Why had he even gone through the trouble of coming to this meeting?

“Can I… erm… get you something?” he asked, glancing at her near empty cup. She blushed, embarrassment making her even more flustered. Why hadn’t she gotten rid of that sooner?

“Some tea with milk would be nice,” she managed.

“Gotcha. Any… anything to eat?”

She shook her head minutely. He smiled again, and then proceeded to flirt up a storm with the girl at the counter.

_ I’m going to murder Sharona for this. _

Lilly put her book away and forced herself to go through several deep breaths. In for four seconds. Hold for eight. Exhale for eight more. Repeat. Breathing focused the brain. Breathing reminded her of where she was, who she was, and what she could do to any motherfucker who crossed her. So far, her date hadn’t committed any gross misdeeds, aside from blindsiding her like an asshole. She could give him two more strikes before she pulled the plug on this whole thing.

_ Jesus H. Christ, is he giving his drink order over there or reciting Howl at the barista? _

She adjusted her skirt and bodice, then sat back in her chair and regarded him carefully. 

Her first impression of him was “classic prettyboy”. Her second had been of an S&M virgin who was too curious for his own good. Now, she was seeing a much more devious side to Duke Devlin, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it. Had he deliberately withheld his identity to see her reaction? Did he need her to be on the back foot for him to feel at ease? Or was there something more to it than that?

“Two teas, here we go,” he said, returning with a tray that was also laden with cream, sugar, and Portugese egg tarts. “I know you said you didn’t want any food, but I saw these and it seemed like a crying shame to leave them to dry.”

“It is a shame.” She’d been eyeing them up herself but she’d talked herself down from buying any. “I’m not a fan of sweets, unfortunately.”

Duke’s expression fell, but only briefly. “No worries. There’s a gent that sits on the steps of the Museum every evening. I’m sure he won’t mind having them.”

Lilly had opened her mouth to ask him if he regularly gave his spare food to the homeless, when she was distracted by the sight of his hands as he poured them both a tea. They were big, with strong, nimble fingers and elegant wrists. She knew of his game, of course - they had people who constantly mistook the Sword of Damocles for his shop - but she’d never given any consideration as to how much skill he probably had in his hands alone. 

“Cream?”

“Pardon?”

Duke blinked at her. “Would you like some cream? In your tea?”

“Er…” She shook her head. “No, actually. I like it plain.”

“You’re a braver person than I am, then,” he said, passing the cup over to her. “Sorry I couldn’t get back to you sooner. I was just leaving work and then time got away with me.”

“Busy time?”

“You have no idea,” he laughed, running his hand through his hair. “We’re getting ready for mass launch and we’re still ironing out the kinks with the VR, and then there’s tax season… But that’s probably pretty boring for you.”

“Because I’m a girl?”

“What? No. I mean… I get a lot of female customers, actually. I was just thinking… your job is probably a lot more exciting than mine.”

Her smile turned brittle. “Oh? What do you mean by that?”

***

Duke was feeling - strangely - like he was about to get destroyed.

Which was ridiculous. All he’d done so far is behave politely and respectfully. Had he already committed some kind of gross faux pas he wasn’t aware of? Something he hadn’t been told but apparently everyone else had?

He’d just wanted to talk to her. To have one normal conversation… what was wrong with that?

In fairness, he had let her friends talk her into going into this date blind. And - he remembered abruptly - if she was following the rules that Baelfegor had laid out, she couldn’t bring up meeting him in the club unless and until he did it first. 

Duke had a sudden desire to hit himself over the head with something. Possibly the teapot in front of him.

“I owe you an apology,” he said. 

If her expression was any indication, she hadn’t expected that. Maybe that would buy him enough time to save this.

“I should have recognized you in the club,” he went on. “I thought you looked familiar, but I didn’t realize when we’d previously met or how. I’m really sorry - I honestly didn’t mean to act the way I did.”

Duke paused, waiting for her to respond. Lilly took her time, stirring her tea and taking a long sip. Then, as she set the cup down, she spoke:

“Like I said, the first time we met, I was hardly at my most presentable.” She smoothed an invisible wrinkle from her purple dress, the gesture simultaneously graceful and self-conscious. “And I don’t always remember people’s faces either, so I’d never hold that against someone else. But I appreciate the sentiment.”

Duke inhaled, slowly. Good. So far, so good.

“Erm… I wasn’t sure how to bring up your job…” he said, slowly. “Is it… like, a problem, for you to be here with me?”

“Why would it be a problem?” The tone she used was soft, but the look… it was enough to make him freeze. He felt like he was walking into a trap again. 

“I was just… erm…” What _ was _ he hoping to say? Duke ran through all the options in his head and came up with nothing that sounded even remotely polite. “—never mind. Forget I even said that.”

“You might as well go through with it.” Lilly folded her hands in her lap. When he hesitated, she went on, “Listen, dude, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to discuss my job with a date. Trust me, it’s easiest to just throw it out there at the start.”

_ Gods above and below, I promise I will clean my room every day if I get through this unscathed. _

“So… you’re a professional dominatrix.” He winced at his own tone. He was going for neutral curiosity, he swore he was! 

Lilly, for her part, seemed perfectly at ease answering. “I am indeed.”

“And you… um… inflict pain on people for money.”

“Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t.” She picked up her tea again. “I have a few clients who are hardcore masochists. Others need disciplining or bondage. It all depends.”

“Ah.”

“I take it Baelfegor’s lecture wasn’t as exhaustive as you needed?”

Duke blushed. Apparently, once he’d brought up her job, everything was on the table. “No, it was very… comprehensive,” he said. “I just… it’s a lot to wrap my head around.”

“There’s been some pretty good books that have come out on the topic. I can give you some recommendations if you like.”

“Thank you, I don’t… well, I’m not sure… I’ll consider it.” He took his cue from her and picked up his drink.

“You still have questions, don’t you?”

He took a moment to gather himself. 

Fact of it was, he had many questions. But he couldn’t shake the feeling like he was about to do something dangerous. Like, if he continued this conversation any longer, he would be in deep shit. It was common sense to change the topic immediately and never bring up her job ever again. 

But he couldn’t bring himself to stop. 

“Your boss… he doesn’t mind you being here at all, does he?”

Her eyebrow quirked again. “Why would he mind?”

“Because of what you do… doesn’t he think you ought to save it for the paying customers instead of going on dates?”

Duke regretted the words almost as soon as they left his mouth. The way her expression turned to stone just confirmed it to him - if he hadn’t fucked up before, he was in deep shit now.

“Don’t worry, sweetie,” she said, her tone as sweet as her eyes were not. “I wouldn’t raise a hand on you without your permission. And you wouldn’t be able to afford me if you wanted to.”

***

It was a quarter to eight. If she just lasted another fifteen minutes, she could tell the others she’d given it her best shot and then that would put the end of their meddling. 

Plus. If he went through all this trouble to just slut shame her, she wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to put a fucker in his place. 

“I wasn’t… I only meant… well, you are on his payroll, aren’t you?”

Lilly crossed her legs as she leaned back in her chair. She was rewarded with Duke’s eyes widening as her skirt rode up her thighs. Poor kid. In another life, she might have been sorry for him.

In another life.

“Let me ask you something,” she said, keeping her voice just light enough not to alert any of the other patrons of what was happening. “You pay people to work in your game shop, correct?”

He frowned. “Yes?”

“And am I correct to assume that in order to sell games, they must be quite good at playing them? They might even be expected to play those games while on the clock?”

“Correct, but what—”

“And if those employees of yours were to go home and continue playing games in their own time… would you withhold their benefits or complain that they are giving away something that you are paying them for?”

Duke squirmed in his seat. “No, of course not. What my employees do in their spare time is their own business.”

“So why would you think my boss would have a different attitude.”

“He wouldn’t. I just…” he shook his head. “Never mind. I assumed—”

“That I am a whore and he is my pimp,” she interrupted. “Yeah. Maybe, if I were less lucky, that’s exactly the life I might have led. But it isn’t, and I am very much free to play with whomever I want when I’m off the clock.”

He couldn’t seem to meet her eye. Not that she expected him to.

Lilly sighed. “Listen, Duke. This is just coffee. You’re not asking my hand in marriage. But you’ve been to my place of work and you knew what I do for a living before you agreed to this blind date. Why don’t you tell me why you’re really here?”

No response. Apparently, the ground was far more interesting to study now that he’d been called out.

She could leave. By all means, she should leave.

And yet…

“Were you spying on us?” She’d heard from Baelfegor that a few select committees at City Hall that were pushing for criminalizing sex work again. Maybe that was that - he was hoping she might be turned into an obedient model victim. “Got a stake in the Sword closing down? Are you prissy that we’re bringing down the real estate prices?”

“What? No!” Duke finally met her eyes then. His face was as pale as a sheet - the panic at least seemed genuine. “I would never… I mean, I wouldn’t… I don’t care about real estate. Or about what you guys do at your club.”

“I should hope not,” she said. “Baelfegor may seem like a teddy bear when he’s doing orientation, but he’s not above using every dirty trick in the book if someone crosses him. Neither am I.”

Duke was breathing hard, clearly trying to regain his composure. She waited. 

“Okay,” he said, finally. “Cards on the table? I was checking you guys out - because people keep coming into my shop thinking that it’s something it is not. And I was told - by my own mentor, no less - that it was my job to be informed of what is happening and not bury my head in the sand. So yeah, I had an ulterior motive, but it was not to dig dirt. And I’m sorry if I came off as if I was… as if I was shaming you or objectifying you. I just… I don’t know enough. And I’m sorry. And this was a mistake.”

Lilly could only blink as he went from defensive to contrite to calling the whole thing off in less than two minutes. Then he stood up to leave.

“Wait.”

A couple of patrons looked up, startled by the command. Duke, however, had frozen obediently in place.

_ Now what, genius? _

Lilly looked around, desperately trying to gather her thoughts or buy some time. Then her eyes landed on the egg tarts, still intact on their plate.

“You said someone out there might want these,” she said, carefully transferring them into a napkin before standing up. “Let’s go for a walk and bring them dessert.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Shaman King or Yu Gi Oh.
> 
> Have some mercy on a bored fanfiction writer who is trying to keep sane through self-isolation.

_ This was a mistake. This was such a big mistake. _

Despite all his mental back and forth, though, nothing could prepare Duke for this night. And he hadn’t exactly lived an easy life. He’d built up his dreams from scratch, he’d been threatened by Rare Hunters, he’d been held hostage and dueled using unfamiliar rules with his body and his soul hanging in the balance. 

Why was it that this woman could make him feel so uneasy and yet so safe? And why couldn’t he form a coherent thought around her?

He forced himself to stay in the now. Robin, the homeless man by the museum, was always at the same place at the same time. Whenever Duke was out running late, he made a point to stop and have a chat and maybe give him some money. Their conversations never went beyond the weather but what difference did it make?

Tonight wasn’t any different. It had rained earlier in the day, Robin said, but he’d found a place at the Salvation Army the previous evening, so he’d had a roof over his head until the sun came out again. “An’ I’m lucky because they said they’d save me a place again tonight. Oh, thanks, love,” he said as Lilly handed him the tarts. Duke noticed her slipping him some money as well. 

“So, not a bad week so far, then?” Duke asked.

“Not bad at all.”

“If the Salvation Army doesn’t have spaces,” Lilly said, suddenly, “There’s another shelter, three blocks from the park, on Mary Magdalene street. You know it?”

“Think so, love. But last time I checked, they were closing it for repairs.”

“Expansions. They finished last week.” She pulled a napkin and a pen and scribbled something on it. “If you can’t find a place… or you know anybody else who can’t… they’re open now, anyway.”

“Thanks, sweetheart. You’re an angel.” He raised a tart at them in salute. “You two have yourselves a good evenin’, yeah?”

“Will do.” Duke wished suddenly that he’d brought more. A coffee, sandwiches. Something. He said so, once he and Lilly had returned on the main street. 

“That cafe we left gives leftover food to the shelters. And I think the kiosk owner at the museum gives the food at the end of the day for 20% of the original price,” Lilly said. “But we could grab something and go back to him, if you want.”

Duke winced. “I… I don’t want to come off as if I’m trying to save everybody. It’s just that…”

“It’s just that he’s homeless and people treat homeless people like they don’t exist,” Lilly said. “Yeah. I know. Pisses me off too.”

“You seem to know a lot. I mean… about shelters and food promos and stuff.”

She was quiet for a while, crossing her arms in front of her. For a second it looked like a defensive posture. Then he realized she didn’t have a jacket on. _ Probably thought she’d go straight home after this, _ he mused. He certainly hadn’t bothered with any layers tonight.

“How well do you know Seto Kaiba?” she asked, suddenly.

Duke pondered this. “Not very well. We were briefly in the same class. I stayed on his airship for the Battle City finals. Can’t say we get along, though.”

“But you let Sharona set us up.”

“Maximilian Pegasus was the one who got the ball rolling,” he admitted. “He dragged me to her desk and insisted any one of her friends would love to meet me. Then I realized where I’d met you the first time and things clicked into place.”

“Hm.”

They walked on in silence, until he mustered the courage to ask: “Why did you want to know?”

“Oh.” Lilly seemed to snap out of her reverie. “I was just wondering how much of the story you already heard.”

Almost without thinking, they reached the park. They shared a quick look, then simultaneously started walking down the alleys. 

Despite the late hour, there were still people there, enjoying the last of the daylight. People exercising, children playing, lovers… doing whatever it is that they were doing. Duke watched a couple disappear deep into the foliage and started steering himself and Lilly as far away from their direction as he could. If they stuck to the main path, he thought, maybe they would avoid more awkwardness than they’d endured already. 

“All I know about you and your friends is what my mentor has told me,” Duke said. “He… seems to think very highly of Sharona.”

“She’s a very charismatic person. Hard-working and smart, too.” A note of envy crept into Lilly’s voice as she spoke. “She certainly has earned everything good that comes her way." 

“I saw your picture on Sharona’s desk,” he said, slowly. “You’ve been friends for a long time?”

“Since we were children. We—” Lilly paused, seemed to weigh up her words. Then she smiled and looked up at him. “This is probably very boring to you.”

“On the contrary,” he said. “I’m glad for any opportunity not to make a fool of myself.”

She shook her head, then turned her attention to the path ahead. Her tone seemed deeper, more distant, as she spoke next, as if she were disappearing into herself. “I know it sounds trite, but for the longest time, the five of us were the only family we ever knew. Separately, we would have never left our hometown - hell, we would have been too scared to leave our street. But somehow, when we were together, the world seemed full of opportunity. Even if it did mean living out of a van for a while.”

They paused at a fork on the road. One path would lead them to the marina. The other would take them to the exit in five minutes.

Duke steered them toward the marina.

“Your parents didn’t object to your... doing that?” he asked. 

“They were in not present for to object. Well, mine weren't, anyway,” she said, shrugging. “The foster system doesn't exactly give you a lot of leeway. We would have been given the boot within six months of our eighteenth birthdays. At least by leaving first, we were taking some kind of control of the situation. Does that make sense?” she asked.

Duke pondered this. His own parents had pretty much checked out by the time he started to build up his company. They supported him… in theory, anyway. But he always got the sense they thought he wasn’t a fully fledged person. Even now, as he was living on his own and running his own business, they only ever seemed to see him as an extension of themselves.

“Yeah,” he said. “It actually makes a lot of sense.” 

They reached the marina and paused to admire the sight; the dying light and how the last rays of the sun danced over the water. Lilly leaned against the handrail and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. He wondered if she was thinking of the day she’d left, and whether the first breath of freedom had felt as sweet as he imagined it all the time.

“That must have been a difficult time,” he said. “Being on your own, with no fall back plan.”

“We were each other’s fall back plan,” Lilly said. “It wasn’t a picnic, don't get me wrong. But then things started to get better. And then, they kept on improving.” Her expression turned wistful. “Some days, I can hardly believe our luck. Others, I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“Ah…” He considered that and made the connection. “I’m guessing today was the latter rather than the former.”

“You’re guessing correctly.” She inhaled sharply, as if bracing for a blow. “And I’m sorry I assumed the worst of you. I suppose I don’t know enough, either.”

***

Lilly wasn’t sure why she was telling him all of these things. Certainly, this wasn’t her usual behavior at dates. 

But however she sliced it, the fact of it was, Duke Devlin was an attractive man. And if there was some hope for them to get along, she didn’t want her pride to get in the way of it.

“You know,” he said, finally, “It’s probably a bad sign that we’re already apologizing to each other on the first date.”

She conceded that much. However, she would have been remiss if she didn’t also point out there were alternative explanations.

“Oh?” Duke asked. “Such as?”

Lilly turned and leaned back against the handrail. A cool breeze had picked up off the water, sending her hair flying. She really didn’t want her dress to gape in an inopportune moment. “In my world,” she said, “it’s the done thing for people to set their boundaries early in the relationship so that they can work from a place of mutual understanding rather than confusion and derision. It’s difficult sometimes, but necessary.”

“Isn’t that how it is in any relationship?” he asked. His laughter did nothing to hide his discomfort.

“If it were, there would not be such a thing as “kink” or “vanilla” sex,” she said, voice serious. “Adults would just negotiate their needs as they saw fit in their relationship, they would check in and reassess constantly, and nobody would see the need to comment on other people’s private choices… or condemn them for exploring anything they were curious about with a trained professional.”

“I said I was sorry about that,” Duke said, wincing.

“I believe you. I’m just pointing out that what we’re doing right now can be a good thing.”

He looked… ‘hopeful’ didn’t seem the right word. Lilly settled on ‘cautiously relieved’. 

He wasn’t out of the woods yet. “So… I guess you like kink in your own time, too, then.” Somehow, that idea seemed disconcerting to him.

Lilly smiled. “Let’s keep walking. I’m getting cold.”

Duke complied, but even as they trekked up and down the marina, the worry didn’t leave his expression. Lilly kept catching him as he was shooting these looks at her, as if he were expecting her to bite his head off any moment.

“I told you the truth earlier,” she said. “I wouldn’t raise a hand on you unless you asked me to. And while vanilla sex is a no-go for me, I’m not a sadist. I don’t need to hurt people to get off.”

“Sorry. I guess I just… I still don’t get it.”

“Okay. What do you want to know?”

***

Duke wasn't sure whether he wanted to run and hide, or vomit all his feelings out, right there on the pavement. _ I don’t know what I want except I feel more at ease with you than with people I’ve known all my life. And I can’t begin to explain what it feels like to look at your world and know it’s there, but also that I cannot ever be a part of it. I don’t want to admit what I want because then it’ll hurt all the more then I can’t have it, and I can’t admit it to you because we only just met. _

Yeah, maybe he was better off in blissful ignorance.

“I don’t know where to begin,” he muttered. He hoped that would dissuade her. Instead, Lilly turned on her heel and started walking backwards, hands behind her back, a playful smile on her lips.

“I’ll trade you. Question for question.”

“Really?” 

“You’d be surprised how fast people become unblocked when you start to ask,” she said, her tone dead serious. “What do you think?”

He thought that was a terrible, dangerous idea, just like how she was not paying attention to what was behind her. But she kept on walking, as sure as though she had a pair of eyes on the back of her head. 

“You go first,” he said. “And please, can you walk normally? I’m terrified.”

“Promising,” she said, but did as requested. “Why did you come to the club?”

Duke laughed. “That’s your question? I told you already, it was for research.”

“You could do your research from the Internet,” she said. “I know. I helped write the F.A.Q. page. It could have been just as informative, and a lot less stressful for you.”

He sighed. Then he reminded himself that there was a reason he’d wanted to go on this date. “And I was curious. I don’t know what about. But I was curious.”

“Curiosity is good. Curiosity means questions, and questions can be answered.”

“All questions?” 

“Most. And those that we cannot answer usually give us a few merry centuries of fun while we try to work out the answer.” She bumped his shoulder with hers. 

Duke laughed. And then, “Why did you agree on this date?” That had been plaguing his mind ever since he’d received her first terse text. “I mean, on the phone you didn’t sound too enthused about it.”

Lilly made a face. “Ah, sorry. I don’t come off very well on text, do I?” She wrapped her arms around herself again, as if to ward off a sudden chill. “Not gonna lie, I wasn’t feeling it tonight. My friends kind of strong-armed me into it. I probably would have been more excited if I’d known I was meeting you.”

“Really?” He felt suddenly warm. “You would?”

“I told Baelfegor I would have played with you in my own time, that night after you left. I wasn’t joking,” she said without the slightest trace of coquettishness.

He might have blushed. “I ah… I guess your next question would be why I left then.”

“Oh, I know exactly why you left,” Lilly said, winking at him. “I did have to unstrap you from the St. Andrew’s cross.”

The blush deepened. “Lilly, I—”

“Duke. Look at me.” She stopped, stared into his eyes, and said, firmly, “An erection is nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of, okay.”

He wanted to crawl into a hole. Possibly never come out. “But I couldn’t control it.”

“No. Which is all the more reason not to be embarrassed.” She smiled. “I can see you’re not convinced, but I’ve met enough gross assholes to know when someone is having a normal reaction, and when they’re trying to intimidate someone else. You, I’m sad to say, are a regular human having a reaction to natural stimulus.”

Duke shook his head. “How are you so…”

“Awesome? Amazing? Brazen?”

“…I was going to go with level-headed, but… I guess those work too.”

Lilly shrugged. “Practice makes perfect. Which leads me to the next question - would you be interested in trying any of that again?”

He inhaled sharply.

“I…” _ Be honest, man. _ “Yes. I think I’d like... some of that.”

Lilly smiled. Waited.

It was his turn to ask.

He could ask anything at all. 

Her favorite food. Her favorite position. Whether or not her proposal involved whips and canes. 

Instead, he found himself uttering, “Could we… um, discuss what bondage on the first date would involve?”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Shaman King or Yu Gi Oh.
> 
> To the one person reading this *raises beer* cheers.

Lilly could count on one hand the times when she’d had a good one night stand with somebody. 

In fact, she could do the count and still have enough fingers left to play shadow puppets with. 

A proper scene required prep and negotiation. She and Duke had about the time it took to walk back to his place, with only the local shop to get supplies. They managed to cover the basics - both had tested recently and had the results on their phones to show the other they were clean; she had an IUD, he was happy to use condoms; she promised not to put him in a bind that he couldn't get out of himself; he promised he would let her know the second he was uncomfortable. 

Lilly asked him for his safe word.

“Strike Ninja,” Duke said, after a moment. 

“Is that a Duel Monsters card?” 

“Yeah… it was my Deck Master when… er…” He paused, as they reached his home. “It’s a long story. But safe to say there’s no chance I’m going to accidentally blurt that out in the middle of a scene.”

“We're not doing a full scene tonight. Just a bit of fun and exploration. We can run through a full checklist when we have the time,” she said, as he unlocked his front door. “But is there anything is particular you don’t like?”

Duke paused, and looked down as if the answer was scratched into the dirt. Then he gathered himself and said: “Just… no yelling or insults. I’m not really good with that.”

Lilly reached out and caressed his face. They hadn’t even kissed, and yet he leaned into her hand as if he trusted her implicitly. 

“Duly noted,” she said. 

She’d get back to that conversation another time.

His apartment - a suite of rooms over his game shop - was small, tastefully furnished, and very obviously not set up for entertaining. Oh, there were all the right components - large couches, nice tables for games, nicer tables for eating, marble counters - but it looked brand new, like someone had just flicked through a catalog and just picked whatever had looked the most modern without any care about taste or feeling. 

Duke was fidgeting. “Um… can I offer you a glass of wine or anything?”

“I’d like to stay sober for this,” she said, voice low. 

He inhaled slowly. “Right,” he said. “Of course. Um… should I… what should…”

“You asked if we could try some things tonight,” Lilly said. “I told you we could. Are you happy for me to take the reins?”

Duke nodded.

“Remember your safe word?”

“Strike Ninja.”

“Good. Say that at any point tonight, and it all stops.”

“I feel like I’m at a doctor’s appointment,” he said, chuckling nervously. 

“That could be arranged,” she replied. “I’m serious, though. If you want me to go…”

He stepped forward as though he wanted to pull her into his arms. Then he froze. “I—” he inhaled and exhaled slowly. “I want you. I want that. I just..”

Couldn’t bring himself to fully express it. 

Whomever his former lovers had been, Lilly decided, they sure had done a number on him.

“I'm glad to hear you want this,” she said. “Now, go into your bedroom and wait for me.”

There was another moment where he seemed apprehensive. But he didn’t safe out and she wouldn’t give him any more openings until he said so. Nodding once, Duke turned and walked into one of the corridors.

Lilly waited until his footsteps died down, then texted her friends to let them know where she was staying the night. She didn’t wait for a receipt confirmation - they all knew what happened when she was out on the town. That duty fulfilled, she went into the bathroom, freshened up, and fixed her makeup, darkening her lashes and putting on a deep lipstick. There was no saving her hair, but she could just braid it really quickly so that it was out of the way. She considered whether to keep her dress on for this, then decided that she wanted to wear it sometime in the future. 

Stripped down to her underwear, she gave herself a critical once-over. Not too bad, if she could say so herself.

So long as no ghosts burst in, tonight was going to be a good one.

***

Duke had just about enough time to straighten his bed and hide his porn on top of the wardrobe, when he heard footfalls in the hallway. 

_ Deep breaths. It’s okay. I said it’s okay for her to take control. _

So why did the thought fill him with dread? Why was he not more excited?

Too late to ponder. Belatedly, Duke remembered something from Orientation and got down on his knees. Then his door opened, and Lilly walked through the threshold, holding something in her hands.

She was wearing nothing but black panties and a camisole.

Duke felt his mouth go dry. Then another memory from the club hit him and he lowered his eyes, so that he saw nothing more tempting than her small, delicate feet. 

They were pretty nice feet.

Lilly didn’t address him immediately. He felt her walking past him, heard her moving around his room, as if studying it. There was a quiet, satisfied chuckle, and then the lights in his room dimmed. 

“I didn’t even know I had that feature,” Duke muttered, then blushed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Lilly said. “I didn’t forbid you from speaking, nor did I say there would be punishment.” There were more footfalls, and then he felt the warmth of her body behind his back. Her palms lay on the side of his neck. “Look up,” she instructed. “Still remember your safe word?”

Even as all the blood in his body headed south, Duke scrounged the information from his brain. “Yes.”

“Well, in case you forget it,” she tapped his chin lightly. “The words no, stop, and don't will also be in play tonight. You okay with that?”

He could only nod.

“Good boy. Now, hold out your hands, palms together.”

There was a brush of silk against his back, and then she knelt by his side, holding a thin black scarf. He watched as she deftly shook it out, wondering where it had come from. She certainly hadn’t bought it at the corner shop, or else he might have noticed. Did she bring bondage gear with her every time she went out?

Lilly smirked as she met his eyes. “I do, on occasion, like to wear scarves,” she said. “But they are most versatile. 

Duke could only nod minutely. She put his palms together as if in prayer then started looping her scarf around: criss-crossing between his thumb and the rest of his fingers, twice around his wrists, and then tying it in a series of knots that left the ends dangling and pooling into her lap. He marveled at the way the silk stood out against his skin. He wondered if he might get in trouble if he got a tattoo in a similar pattern.

“How does it feel?” she asked.

He pulled at the bindings experimentally. They held strong, but didn’t cut his circulation. There was enough slack in the rope that he could wriggle out if he needed to, but they were still restraining him. They held him…

“Safe,” he said. “They feel safe.”

“Good.” Lilly rose off the floor and tugged him along. “Come on, I’m not done yet.”

She helped him climb onto his bed, then directed him to lie on his back. Duke glanced at the door, overcome with a sudden, irrational fear somebody might see them. 

But that was ridiculous. He was living on his own - had been for ages. His nearest neighbors were across the street, and he had blackout blinds in his room. Nobody would see Lilly kneeling by his hear and securing him to his own headboard with the scarves. Nobody would know she was there, even. He was safe. This was safe.

Lilly paused her work and looked at him. “Would you like me to lock that door?”

“Yes, please.” Duke cleared his throat. “And um… if you don’t mind, can you also take my phone and laptop and out them in the living room? I forgot to do that earlier.”

Something passed through her features, but it was gone before he could figure out what it was. She did as asked, though, without protest or comment.

“I know this is silly,” he said, when she returned and turned the bolt on his bedroom door. “It’s just that… I’ve had seven attempts at someone strong-arming my computer password lately, three in the last week alone. Twenty more on my phone. So far none have gotten through, but I just—”

“You’d rather be safe than sorry,” she said, climbing back onto the bed. “Yeah. I know that feeling.”

Duke exhaled. “Thank you.”

“I left my bag in the kitchen as well. My phone isn’t exactly the sort of thing that can get hacked. We’re all alone now.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Anything else I can do to make you comfortable?” she asked. 

_ Tell me I’m not an idiot. _ He closed his eyes. “No. I… I think I’m done backseat driving.”

“Don’t check out on me yet. This is a lot more fun when we are both participating.” She threw her leg over his chest and leaned in to fiddle with the bindings. Her breasts were an inch from his face. His heart went into overdrive.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “I’m a lot worse at this than I seem. It’s probably safest to have me hog-tied so that I don’t mess up.”

Another pause. Then she slid down his body until she was braced over him. Her braid slid over her shoulder like a snake. “Trust me, Devlin,” she said, eyes darkening. “By the time I’m done with you, you wouldn’t give two shits about how good you are at this or not.”

Then she sat up quickly, gripped the hem of his T-shirt, and rolled it up. Duke wondered why she hadn’t just asked him to take it off earlier - he wondered all while she maneuvered the fabric up his torso, past his shoulders. She carefully got his mouth and nose free, but instead of finishing her work, she left the fabric bunched up around his head, effectively blindfolding him.

“Lilly…” he whispered.

“Breathe, sweetheart.” She placed her hands on his chest, encouraging him. Duke forced several shallow breaths before inhaling deeply. “Good. Well done. How does this feel?”

“Disconcerting.” 

“In what way?”

He tried to come up with the words. Tried, and failed. “Like anything can happen right now.” He swallowed. “And I’m powerless to stop it.”

“That’s right. And how do you feel about that?”

He sighed. There was a beautiful woman in his room, he could not see her, couldn’t touch her unless she touched him first, every door in his house was locked and he couldn’t even scream for help because no neighbor would be in hearing distance. He was about to get fucked, and he was not able to stop it…

_ No. I can stop it. I just have to say the word. _

Duke relaxed into his bed, relaxed into his bindings, and just let himself be held. “Good,” he said, not recognizing his own voice. “I feel good.”

***

Lilly let herself smile, feeling uncharacteristically proud of him. “I’m glad,” she said, leaning in and running her hands over his torso. He relaxed even further. “Remember, nothing is expected of you. I’m here. I got you.”

He nodded, as much as he could in his restraints. She trailed her hands up his torso again, lighter this time. Then she leaned in and followed the path she’d just traced with her lips and tongue.

Duke shuddered against her and his hips buckled. Lilly paused only to hook her legs under his and then, before he could react, spread them until he was effectively pinned down on the bed. “Scared yet?” she asked between kisses and licks.

“No.” He swallowed. “Not in the least.”

In fact, the more he was restrained, the more he relaxed. It was as though being at the mercy of a beautiful woman was all he ever wanted.

Lilly mentally upgraded his former loves from “not very helpful” to “fucking idiots”. Well. Their loss was her gain.

She took her time exploring his upper body, giving him the slightest graze with her teeth every now and again to test how comfortable he was with it. From his reaction, she had to guess - pretty comfortable. Her own body was warming up too - when she sucked on his nipples, her own stood to painful peaks. Her underwear was damp and uncomfortable with her arousal. It would be so easy to just shimmy their bottom layers off and take him.

But that would bring the night to a rather premature end and - she noted the time - they had a good few hours before they lost so much sleep they’d be useless in the morning. 

She grazed his nipple with her teeth, causing him to buck so violently off the bed, she thought he might have come already. She leaned in, feeling his erection against her belly. “Someone is impatient,” she said, teasingly. 

“Sorry.” He chuckled, but it sounded a little desperate. “It’s been a while.”

“How long is a while?” She sat back up and started - slowly, tortuously - to loosen his belt. Duke let out a strangled whimper. “Devlin? Focus, sweetie. How long is a while?”

“By myself? About a day,” he hedged.

“Not the question I was asking.”

He pursed his lips. Then, finally. “Six months… I last hooked up with someone six months ago.”

“Thank you for telling me.” She popped the top button of his jeans. “Now define ‘hooked up’ for me.”

Duke groaned.

“I’m not asking to be mean,” Lilly said, rubbing his thighs to stop them from cramping. “I just want to know how to proceed with the program.”

“There’s a program?”

“There’s always a program. And you’re stalling.” She kissed his hip, then trailed her lips across to his other one, causing him to tremble. 

“Six months ago,” he said, resigning, “I went to this club… not like yours, just a regular place. I thought I might have a drink, blow off some steam. I got chatting to a girl and we ended up making out in a corner.”

“Mhmmm…” she said, then lowered his zipper. “You didn’t stop at making out, though, did you?”

“No.” He swallowed. “We… she… she kept telling me to take her, just turn her around and fuck her right then and there. I mean… it was pretty dark and we were mostly in private, but I’m not really one for that. So I just… look, can we not talk about this? It’s kind of embarrassing.”

Lilly moved up and pulled his blindfold off. His eyes were closed and his expression was pained. “Duke,” she ordered in her sternest voice. “Look at me.”

He shook his head.

“Sweetheart, I have something I need to say to you, and I want to make sure you know I’m serious.”

He sighed. His green eyes opened a crack. He looked like he might cry.

“I lost my virginity in the back of a car, in a fast food parking lot,” she said. “And if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, we also had a police officer knocking on our window as we were trying to sort ourselves out. Trust me when I say, I know what humiliation feels like. And if I’m about to give you your first orgasm in six months, I’d like to know.”

He exhaled, the tension leaving his body. “I didn’t get one then,” he admitted, smiling awkwardly. “I just backed her up against a wall and fingered her until she came. She seemed happy enough when she returned to her friends, but they left soon after and she didn’t ask me to come with.”

“That was mighty obliging of you, though,” Lilly said, as she pulled his jeans just down to the tops of his thighs, and then did the same with his underwear. “How long was it since you had any relief?” Taking his cock in her hand, she used her thumb to spread the precum all over the head.

Duke’s head fell back on his pillows, eyes closing in bliss. 

“Devlin?”

“Longer,” he said, finally. “It was a lot longer.”

Well, damn. Now she felt bad for teasing him at all. 

“Does that ruin your program?” he asked, sounding concerned.

“Not in the least.” She sat astride his hips and gave him a few hard pumps. “It just means a few items are getting rearranged.”

***

She was going to be the death of him.

Then again, he decided as her hand moved against him, this was a pretty good way to die. He was only glad she’d taken his blindfold off for this. The sight of her in her underwear and glasses, owning him, was just too good to miss.

Too good, in fact. He had to recite the names of duel monsters cards in his head just to to avoid embarrassing himself.

“Lilly…”

“You okay there?”

“Yes but… God… I don’t think… I won’t last…”

She laughed. “That’s the point.”

Duke groaned and closed his eyes. He changed his mind. He missed the blindfold.

Then he felt her roll on a condom on him and let go. Opening his eyes, he was rewarded with the sight of her other hand disappearing in under the waistband of her panties. The fabric was so sheer, he could see her fingers pumping in and out of her. And - he held his breath wondering if maybe his mind was playing tricks - he could have sworn she was so wet, he could hear it.

“Sorry,” she said, pulling her hand out. “I need a bit of help there.” She spread her fluids on his cock, making him slick and wet, then resumed squeezing and rubbing him. She pressed her lace-covered mound against him so that her knuckles were rubbing her with every pump.

“Dear God,” he groaned. “I can’t—”

“Then don’t. Come, Devlin. Come for me.”

He was gone before she even finished speaking.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Shaman King or Yu Gi Oh. 
> 
> I don't even own decent coping strategies. Obviously.

The first time Lilly had really made someone come apart, it had been a revelation. 

Previously, all that sex had been for her was a big let down. Boys that pinned her down in cars and tiny cramped beds or even cold mattresses on even colder floors. Quick, unpleasant affairs at parties or in shared houses while the rest of the roommates turned up their Gears of War or whatever it was. It hadn’t been until she hooked up with an older guy - an engineer in his late twenties with his own home - that she knew what it was like to actually take your time with someone, to draw out a seduction until their climax was as satisfying as one she might have given to herself. 

If Duke Devlin didn’t want to see her again after tonight, that would be fine. But she wasn’t about to half-ass it, either.

Discarding the used condom, she crawled up the bed until she was kneeling next to his head. His T-shirt had bunched up around his elbows, locking them together - she pushed it up until it hung loose around his wrists instead. No sign of muscle fatigue yet, but she started to rub his arms anyway.

His expression was dazed. When he spoke next, his voice was full of relief. “Thank you,” he breathed. 

“My pleasure,” she said, winking. “Literally.” 

His eyes fell to her crotch. She spread her legs a little, knowing full well that her inner thighs were slippery and wet by now. He inhaled sharply and licked his lips. “I…” he tried to clear his throat. “Can I— Sorry, I feel like a really bad host right now.”

Lilly chuckled. “We agreed that I’d lead tonight, remember?” she asked. 

“Yes, but—”

“That means I’m going to do what I damn please, boyo. And right now—” she ran her hands up from her knees, between her thighs, and then up her torso “—, it pleases me to tease you.”

He swallowed hard. His Adam’s apple bobbed as his eyes followed the path of her hands. 

“Got a problem with that?” she asked, voice breathy. One of her hands slipped under the collar of her camisole, cupping her breast and teasing the nipple. 

“No, ma’am,” he managed.

“There’s hope for you yet.” Lilly slipped her breast out of the camisole so that he had a good look at what she was doing. Her other hand slid down, following the crease of her inner thigh until it was pressing against the lace covering her clit. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to take care of something.”

Duke squirmed but didn’t say another word. He just watched her play with herself, eyes wandering between her lips, her breast, and her clit as if he were trying to memorize everything all at once. She wanted to tell him this was not a test, but then, maybe she could make it one. Visions of teacher role-play ran through her mind, and she filed them away for later. _ Focus on the now, _ she thought, pressing hard against her clit and letting her eyes roll at the back of her head. _ Now feels pretty damn good. _

She spread her knees wider and moved her panties to the side, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from her partner. Then, slowly, she slipped two fingers inside of her, pumping them in and out.

“Lilly,” he panted. “My God…”

“See that?” she asked, pulling her hand out slowly before thrusting it back in. He gasped. “That’s just from giving you a hand job. Are you thinking about what it would be when I replace those fingers with your cock?”

“Yes.” 

She pinched her nipple hard and added a third finger. “You know how big you are? I’m going to need a lot of priming to get all of you in.” She buried her fingers as far as they would go and curled them hard. “Because not everyone gets this, do they?”

His nostrils flared. “No,” he managed. 

“And you know why?” She lifted her hips to give him a better view as she picked up her pace, fast and hard. “I asked you a question. Do you know why?”

Duke closed his eyes, as if in prayer. “Because—” he licked his lips “—because… they have to earn it?”

Lilly grinned. “Do you think you can earn it, Devlin?”

Finally, he managed to lock eyes with her. She held his gaze even as her own orgasm started to tear through her. 

“Yes,” he said, as she came. “Yes. I can earn it.”

Lilly grinned and drew her hand from her body. Wiping her fingers against his bicep, she leaned in and bit his ear. “We’ll see about that.”

***

The blindfold was back on, and he didn’t know whether to weep from gratitude or scream with frustration. She was too beautiful. Too bold. Too much.

And now she was asking if he wanted to play a game.

“Will I need my hands?” he asked.

“Only if you win,” she said. She’d left the room for a minute, but now the bed dipped under her weight again. There was a sound of something being set down on his nightstand. “It’s a very easy game, I promise. You just have to wait for as long as you can.”

He sucked in a breath. “I suppose I have had some practice in that,” he conceded.

“Mmm.” She kissed his cheek. It would have been a sweet gesture if he couldn’t smell her arousal every time he turned his head. “Your goal is to hold out. My goal is to make you fall apart. If I break you before the time is up—” she paused, and then he heard his alarm clock go off softly “—then we restart the game. And every time we have to start the game, I’m going to give myself two orgasms for every one you get.”

That didn’t sound much like a loss to him. He could probably spend a full night just watching her fuck herself and not get bored. 

“How long is the time?” he asked.

“For me? Not long at all. For you? Probably a century.”

Figures. He sighed as she started kissing a path down his chest again. “Do you accept?” she asked, as she reached his belly.

“Wait.” He immediately felt her sit up at attention. He swallowed and blinked against the blindfold. “What do I get if I win?”

Lilly ran her hands up and down his thighs. “If you win…” she said, voice full of promise. “If you can last being taken up to the edge over and over again with no release… then I’m going to set you free.”

He snorted. Really, was she trying to make him lose on purpose? “I accept,” he said. “But this is going to be an easy game for me.”

She laughed openly at that. Then, without another warning, she grabbed hold of his cock again. 

Duke expected her to pump him as she had before. Instead he felt something hot and wet wrap around his head. Then he shuddered, as she licked him from root to tip. 

“Oh my God.” He gasped, hips rising off the bed again. 

Her hands pinned him down. Vaguely, he wondered how this woman could be so much stronger than she looked, but then that thought vanished as she continued her ministrations. He felt her spit running down his shaft, and she alternated between her hand and her mouth in torturing him.

It would have been so easy for him to just let go and suffer the consequences. He would have liked that, too. But then, just as he was nearing the edge, she stopped.

“Patience,” she said, in response to his frustrated groan. He hear something being picked up, then Lilly swallowed and set it back down again. A cup, his lust-addled brain supplied. She was drinking something.

“Changed your mind about that wine?” he tried asking, then let out a sharp gasp when she returned to her ministrations. Except this time, her mouth was ice cold. “Holy shit, Lilly!”

No, it certainly hadn’t been wine. Arctic water, more like.

Just as he was starting to get used to the feeling, she stopped again. “Oh, please don’t,” he whimpered. 

“Is that a Strike Ninja?” she asked.

Was it? He took some time to think. She waited patiently. 

“No,” he said, finally. “Just… damn.”

“I know.” She gulped another mouthful of water. “That’d be the point.”

He hadn’t realized that the point of the game was to break him like that. But when she got back to licking him, her mouth was fiery hot. Extremely hot. As hot, in fact, as it had been freezing a second ago.

Suddenly, he wasn’t surprised at all that she’d been laughing earlier.

And yet, he didn’t find himself minding that too much. Every time she stopped and he felt the sharp change in tac, something inside of him unraveled a little bit more. _ You don’t have to control this _ he thought. _ You just have to feel. _

He felt… rather frustrated.

Not just because she was really, really good at bringing him to the brink and then letting him go. But also because he honestly had no idea what time it was or how much longer he had to take this. She was right - it did feel like centuries had passed.

And yet…

“Lilly, please,” he whimpered. 

“I confess, you’ve been really good at this game so far,” she said, after releasing him with a pop. “I might just have to pause this to get ready.”

He remembered her comment on priming herself and he swallowed, hard. “Please…” he said. “Please, let me do something for you. Please.”

He expected another comment about how she was just doing as she pleased, but instead, his sheets rasped as she crawled up the length of his body. “Something, Devlin?” she whispered against his lips. “And what something would that be?”

Admittedly, he hadn’t thought that far back. But thanks to how she’d managed to tie him up, his options were delightfully limited.

“Anything,” he said. “Anything that your game allows, ma’am.”

“Hmm…” she rose off him. A second later, something silky brushed against his mouth. He licked tentatively and was rewarded with a pleased mewl from her. Emboldened, he used his tongue and lips to find the edge of her camisole and lick underneath. Then he returned to where her nipple was teased it into a peak. All the while, he felt her rocking her hips against his. 

It was torture. But such a sweet torture nonetheless.

“Enough,” she ordered. He immediately complied. Seconds later, her mouth was back on him, sucking harder than before. Then she took him all the way into her throat, relaxing and contracting it.

How was it that he’d gotten so lucky? And how was it that she still hadn’t yelled at him for being a lazy, useless shit?

_ Oh, right. Because you told her you didn’t like that and she respected that. _

Duke nearly came then, and gritted his teeth, holding back. 

Why was he holding back though? Didn’t he decide losing was a better option?

Maybe. Maybe not. Deep down, he wanted to win after all.

And then he heard the beeping. 

At first he didn’t realize what it was. Then, much to his shock, he recognized his own alarm clock.

Lilly released him and he felt her sigh as she reached out to shut the alarm off. Then, without another warning, she ripped off the blindfold.

He watched her in wonder. 

“I won?”

She smiled, proud and pleased, more beautiful than he’d ever seen her. “You did indeed.” She said, undid the knots tying him to the bed. 

***

If she’d had any gear with her, this part would have been a lot quicker and less awkward. But Lilly didn’t mind - it only took a minute for him to be free, and it gave her enough time to roll a new condom on him. She looked up to find him sitting up, rubbing his wrists and gazing at her in wonder.

She took her glasses off and set them on the night stand. Then she held out her hand.

In the next second, he had her under him, pinning her down with his full weight as he kissed her. Lilly sighed, opening her mouth and sucking on his tongue the same way she had with his cock. His hips jerked against hers, and she could feel his erection rubbing against her clit. She shrugged her shoulders, letting the straps of her camisole fall down her arms and exposing her breasts.

Duke grasped her hips, stilling them. Then without further warning, he sat back, pulling her underwear down her legs. He hooked one arm under her knee, then stopped, looking down at her as if he’d forgotten himself.

Lilly lay back on her elbows, turning her head to the side and smiling. She knew she looked a sight - naked and wet from the waist down, lipstick smeared all over her, tits out on display. And she knew exactly what that was doing to him. 

She curled her other leg around his waist, urging him closer. He ducked his head and kissed her as his hand cupped her sex.

She expected him to thrust immediately into her. With all the edging she’d done, she expected him to be ready to blow by now. But instead, he ran his fingers along her seam, testing and searching, before starting to tease her folds with his fingers. 

Lilly sighed. “And you call me a sadist,” she whispered.

“I won,” he replied, adding another finger, and then another. She realized he was doing as she had earlier, mimicking what she’d shown him. How she’d liked to be touched.

Falling back in the bed, Lilly wrapped her arms around him, urging him closer. He kissed her palms and curled his fingers inside of her, looking… Seeing him furrow his brow, Lilly grabbed hold of his wrist and guided him until his fingers found what they were feeling for. Then she rubbed her own clit, bringing herself faster to the edge while he bore down on her hard.

It was, admittedly, a very short but very successful effort.

She was still spasming from her own release when he replaced his hand with his cock, working it in with a few quick, shallow thrusts. Lilly’s head fell back and she let out a guttral moan. “God, yes, just like that.”

Duke chuckled. She felt him brace himself against the bed, and then he started to move. Pulling himself out slowly, then slamming back into her. Lilly let out a shrill cry, her nails digging into him. 

He wouldn’t last long. She knew that, and yet she spurred him on, digging her heels into the small of his back. Once. Twice. On the third, his eyes rolled on the back of his head and if he hadn’t rolled off at the last minute, he would have probably cracked a rib with how fast he fell down.

Lilly followed him, taking his face in her hands and capturing his mouth in hers. 

Damn it. She’d missed kissing.

***

So what was the etiquette to talking to a woman after she’d given you the best orgasms of your life?

Duke was tempted to say just that but even in his groggy state, he was not convinced the compliment was as good as she deserved. Admittedly, his own bar was pretty low, but…

She didn’t seem unhappy. If anything, she seemed just as pleased as he was as she cradled him in her arms. 

“Are you—” he started, then scrambled to find the words. “I mean… was that okay for you?”

Lilly huffed out a laugh. “I think the better question is, was that okay for _ you? _ ” Then her tone turned serious. “You _ are _ okay, right?”

Duke kissed the space between her breasts, then her collarbone, then her lips. “I’m fantastic.” He traced her chin with his finger, noting the smeared makeup and her sweat-slicked hair. “You’re… that was… everything I could have imagined and more.”

“I’m glad,” she said, then nipped lightly at his fingers. “Lie down now. Give yourself a chance to recover.”

He settled back on top of her, enjoying the feel of just holding her. Suddenly, the idea of exploring kink with her didn’t seem scary at all. No, if he had his way, they would be working their way through the Kama Sutra every hour from now until next Sunday. They…

“--probably call an Uber.”

…were out of time.

He followed her gaze to his bedside table. The clock - same clock she’d used for her sensuous torture - showed two minutes past midnight. They’d only played for a couple of hours. 

Duke nuzzled her breast. “Do you have to go?” he asked.

She ran her fingers through his hair. “Afraid so, handsome. I’ve got classes to attend in the morning, and as much as I would enjoy staying over, I’m not interested in going to college without any underwear on.”

He hadn’t even considered that. Duke let her up and then, feeling suddenly awkward, he helped her adjust her camisole. Her dress was in the kitchen, as were the rest of her things. He adjusted his own clothes and then followed her, marveling at how beautiful and relaxed she was. How relaxed _ all _ of this was. 

“Do you live far?” he asked, as she slipped slowly into her clothes and buckled on her shoes. “I can walk you home. It’s no trouble.”

“Sweet of you to ask, but I’m on the other side of town,” she said, using the edge of her dress to wipe her glasses. 

“Oh… well, can I see you again tomorrow?”

The corner of her mouth lifted into a smile. “I’ve got work, I’m afraid.”

Of course she did. Duke felt a brief moment of unease, then shook himself off. She was right, earlier on. What she did for a living and what she did in her free time were two different things altogether. He knew who she was when he agreed to this date. This was his shit to deal with.

“I am free the weekend after next, though,” she said, and suddenly she was caressing his face. Duke met her eyes, not realizing he’d been avoiding them until now. “And I can come here straight after I finish at the club. We could have a good forty eight hours to ourselves, if that’s what you want.”

He sighed, sagging a little. “I… I think I’d like that. And um… maybe go for dinner with you? I feel a bit like maybe we skipped a few steps tonight.”

Lilly smiled and pulled him by the belt until they were chest to chest. “How about this,” she said, “we’ll do your checklist first thing, and then from there. It’s been a while since I had a chance to play with someone for more than one night. I’d like to take my time if you let me.”

He kissed her deeply. “How soon until your ride is here?” he asked.

“Behave.” 

“But… how soon?”

Her phone buzzed, much to both their disappointment. Then she kissed his chin. “Don’t be sad, darling.” Lilly stepped back and gave him a wink. “I promise, you will have me all to yourself soon enough.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Yu Gi Oh or Shaman King.
> 
> I own a massive feeling of meh due to being stuck indoors for nine fucking days straight.

“Saw the Red Dragon on his way out,” Bryan said, walking into the staff room as Lilly disinfected her cane. “I don’t know whether to be scared or impressed.”

“Neither. Both. Whatever you like,” she said, smiling as she examined the rattan surface. “Personally, I thought I did a mighty good job.”

“He did too. Left a tip worthy of a New York establishment.” Her boss crossed his arms over his chest and studied her. “You’re glowing. I take it your date on Wednesday went well?”

Lilly raised an eyebrow. “News travels fast.”

“Every taxi driver in town knows my boys and girls, Lil. If you go home late on a non-school night, I’ll know it.”

From any other guy, that would have sounded creepy as Hell. 

Not him, though. Bryan knew - as few people in this city did - just what this job involved and what the risks she took. Sometimes, the dangers lurking outside the dungeon door were far scarier than the ones inside of it.

“I have made a new friend,” she said. “He doesn’t mind what I do for a living, and he wants to explore what gives us both pleasure. I consider that a very successful date.”

“Not some knight in shining armor, then?” he asked. “He’s not going to charge in here, threatening to chop my head off if I hurt you?”

“Please. You know me better than that.”

Bryan ruffled her hair. “I do, kiddo. Which is why, if this guy hurts you, I feel obliged to let you know that I have both his address and a whip. I will not hesitate to use it.”

She smirked. “With some luck, I will use a whip on him, and we will both enjoy it.” 

Not that luck was needed. Duke had texted her on Thursday, thanking her for the nice evening and wishing her a lovely class. Then, throughout the last week, he’d asked her about her favourite drinks, if she had any specific food preferences, and if she was interested in renting a movie at any point during the weekend. Today, Friday, he’d attempted to send her a picture text, only to have it bounce off because her ancient Nokia did not support this kind of thing. _ You need to upgrade your phone, _ he’d complained before explaining what meme he’d found and why he thought she might like it.

The man was sweet to a fault. She just hoped he’d never have to know why she could never upgrade her phone.

“Was that the last one?” she asked, hanging up the cane. “I didn’t see any more bookings, so I’m happy to go behind the bar until closing time.”

“There’s been a last-minute one. Room three.” Bryan handed her a folder. “New member, so he’s just having his checklist done before he and his partner head to the floor. Seems like a humiliation slut to me, but maybe I’m wrong.”

Lilly took the papers and flicked through them. The name on top seemed vaguely familiar but she didn’t place it until she walked in and saw the man in question.

He was short, fresh-faced, and shrewd-looking. She decided that she liked him better in back, being hurried out of the club by his very embarrassed girlfriend.

“Kail Townsworth?” she asked. “Good evening and welcome to the Sword of Damocles.”

“Good evening, mistress.” Kail looked much too smug. “A pleasure to meet you.”

Room three was more like a psychotherapy room than anything else - there were high back leather chairs and fancy rugs, but no bondage or torture gear. They wanted new members to feel comfortable and happy. They wanted people to have a chance to have a honest conversation about their desires without being distracted. 

Plus. It was comfortable for the dominants, too.

Lilly sat in one of the chairs and opened the folder. “Right, then. Would you like to tell me what you’d like to try?”

Kail sat down, spread-legged and as smug as anything. She wondered briefly if this man really was a submissive. Not that there weren’t plenty of people who hid it well, but… there was just something about his general demeanor that made her feel a bit… iffy.

Her instincts had been wrong in the past, though. 

She had at least two reasons to be a little dubious of her own judgment now.

“I never did this before,” Kail said. “I mean, my girlfriend Doll and I like a little bit of play but I never considered that maybe I might enjoy being disciplined or humiliated.” He looked up at her from under his lashes. “Is that what you do? Mistress?”

Lilly kept her face carefully blank. “Sometimes. Not always.” She adjusted the folder and peered down. Her boss had left a sticky note in there. _ Client didn’t particularly take to the checklist the first time around. _ Interesting. “Shall we go through this together, and then we can discuss the particulars of what you’re looking for.”

“Is that what you do with all your clients? Or do you like… allocate among yourselves?”

She gave him a thin smile. “It really depends on the needs of the clients.”

“Ah. Of course.” He seemed genuinely disappointed. She adjusted the papers and started to go down the list, hoping that the routine and the questions would help put them both more at ease.

They didn’t. 

In fact, her discomfort grew more and more as she went down the list of questions. Some of the stuff was pretty standard - bondage for example - but she couldn’t make heads nor tails of some of his other answers. Full marks for regular vanilla sex acts, complete zero for giving head himself. All for watersports, so long as he wasn’t the bottom. Claimed an interest in discipline but didn’t want any yelling or restraining that wasn’t handcuffs to the bedpost. It was extreme variations, too - full marks for some, zeroes for others, nothing in between and all hard limits. She even checked a few times to make sure he understood which number was for the things he “wanted to try” and the things he “didn’t touch with a five foot pole.”

“Okay, that was the first part done,” she said, turning the questionnaire to a blank page under the guise of arranging the paperwork.

“There’s more?” he asked.

Not printed on the paper, but there was a protocol for new people who raised hackles. An internal checklist that Lilly had shared with the others and they had agreed was pretty comprehensive. “We’re nearly at the end, I promise,” she said, keeping her voice calm and business-like. “Okay, let’s say you’re meeting your dominant for the first time. What is your expectation?”

“That they would tell me what to do and I would do it.”

“And how would you address them while you are still negotiating?”

“Sir, or Ma’am. Or… well, it depends on what they want.”

Lilly pretended to write that down. “And how would you alert them of one of your hard limits?”

“I would use my safe word during the scene, of course,” Kail said, frowning. “These are rather bizarre questions, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“Club protocol, I’m afraid.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “Okay, last one. You said humiliation is a turn on. Would you expect a dominant to ask you first what your preferred insults would be?”

“No,” Kail said, firmly. “I’ll take whatever they give me.”

Lilly wrote that down. 

Then she closed the folder with a snap. “Excellent. Thank you very much for this. I’ll process these and we will have someone contact you to arrange a scene in a short while.”

“Wait, that’s it? No… no play tonight.”

She stood up and smoothed her skirt out. “You are more than welcome to enjoy the club,” she said, keeping her body language relaxed, but reserved. She didn’t need to give this one any ideas. “But we need to process your questionnaire so that we can find the right fit for you. Have a good evening.”

Kail left, shooting her annoyed looks. Lilly waited until he was gone from the floor completely, before walking straight past the administrator’s suite and into her boss’ office.

Bryan, now fully dressed in his Baelfegor gear, gave her a surprised look. “You’re here!” he said. “I was about to send a search party for you.”

She threw the folder on his desk, feeling - for the first time since she was working at this club - perfectly justified in being dramatic.

“This guy shouldn’t be a member,” she said. “And if you allow anybody working here - dominant or submissive - to go to him, then I swear to God, Bryan Drayfuss, I will quit.”

***

Duke fussed with the coffee pot, wondering - for the first time since his decorator had finished furnishing this place - whether or not this was indeed a good idea.

Not having Lilly over for the day. Obviously, he was excited about that. Eager, even. But maybe the heavy monochromatic look of the place didn’t suit him, after all. It was just too… pristine, too clinical. A doctor’s office, but without any substance in it.

Of course, the decorator - or _ interior designer _ as the pudgy man had often corrected - hadn’t been of that opinion. He had explained to Duke that it was a “modern”, “respectable” and “young” look, the kind that up-and-comers like himself aimed toward whenever they entertained company. What company, the decorator hadn’t gotten into, but suffice to say, Duke had been chastised into accepting his stance.

Now… now he just looked around and felt sad.

He would have liked to see more life around the apartment. Splashes of color, for example, maybe even some interesting features. He could never imagine having Yugi or his friends over to play games or just hang out - it was too much like making a mess in his parents’ home. 

Lilly hadn’t had a problem with his bedroom, but then, Lilly hadn’t been there to admire the light fixtures.

There was a short ring, bringing him out of his reverie. Then he actually opened the door, and his smile dropped. “Serenity! What are you doing here?”

Joey’s little sister smiled and tucked a lock behind her ear. “Hi, Duke. I’m sorry to bother you, it’s just…” she fumbled with the sleeve of her shirt. “I was house-sitting at Yugi’s place last night, but I locked myself out when I went to check something out front. I… I’m sorry to be a bother, I just don’t have a phone or money and they won’t be back for a couple of more hours…”

“Of course, come in.” He ushered her through. “Can I offer you a coffee or tea? You must be freezing. I—” His eyes fell to the clock. Lilly was not due for a while yet, but he felt suddenly uneasy of having both women in the room together. “I’ll give Yugi a call to tell him what happened. Do you want me to get anybody else for you?”

Serenity shook her head. “No, my big brother is out with Mai this weekend. I don’t want to bother him. And Tristan is getting ready for his exams.” She rubbed her hand over her eyes. “I’m sorry. I must seem like such an idiot. I just wanted to do show them I’m not a baby anymore. I—”

“Serenity.” Duke squeezed her shoulders, once. “It’s okay. I’ll make you a cup of tea, and call Yugi so that he doesn’t worry. You can tell me all about it.”

She smiled tentatively. “Thank you, Duke,” she said. “I’m sorry I just barged in. You—” she looked around tentatively, noticing that he was setting a table for more than one person. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

He made a quiet prayer that he would get through this. “I’m expecting someone, but later in the day. Don’t worry.” He lied through his teeth. “It’s no trouble at all.”

***

_ Friend stopped by. You don’t have to come first thing if you don’t want to. _

Lilly looked at the text, half-surprised, half-bemused. Then she resumed her leisurely pace towards Duke’s shop, duffel bag thrown casually over one shoulder.

She would get there when she got there. If that friend was still around, she’d say hi. If she weren’t - and Lilly was pretty sure it was a she - then she and Duke could proceed according to plan, and she would have a good reason to tie him up and punish him. 

_ First rule for dominants, hurt but do not harm, _ Baelfegor had instructed her, back when her training had started. _ Second rule for dominants: do not raise a hand on somebody if you are angry. _

She wasn’t angry, though. She’d had, on the whole, a pretty good week. And even if her boss disagreed with her assessment of their newest client, he had promised to see him himself first, before he allowed anybody on his payroll to spend any time alone with Keil. She was sure that once Bryan actually was in a scene with the man, he would agree he wasn’t trustworthy anyway. To dom or to sub. 

Lilly sighed and rolled her shoulders. Today wasn’t about her boss. It wasn’t about her job. It was about her and Duke. 

_ At least Sharona and the others finally have a reason to say they told me so. _ She smirked, reaching Duke’s door and knocking.

There was the sound of footfalls - soft, delicate ones - and then a beautiful girl with brown eyes and dark red hair opened the door. 

She was wearing - as far Lilly could tell - pink pajamas under one of Duke’s branded sweatshirts.

_ Utterly adorable. He must be terrified right now. _

“Morning,” Lilly said, putting on her nicest, most vanilla smile. “I’m here for the gentleman of the house.”

The girl’s eyes widened so much, they almost swallowed her face. “You must be Duke’s friend. He said he was expecting someone.” She stepped aside quickly.

Lilly forced herself to move casually. She took her time, setting the duffel down and taking her shoes off, before introducing herself to the girl. “Lilly Ward. Nice to meet you.”

“Serenity Wheeler.” The girl glanced between her and the large bag, putting two and two together. “I’m sorry. I got locked outside. He never said—” she blushed as red as a tomato “—I’m so sorry. I’m intruding.”

“Don’t be sorry. You can’t help getting locked outside,” Lilly said sweetly. She couldn’t help herself - the girl was just too cute. She wondered if she was an ex or the one who go away. Not that it mattered, but it would be interesting for the future.

The was the sound of running water, and then Duke stepped out from his bathroom.

“Lilly!” he gaped. “I… I didn’t hear you.”

“I knocked.” She gave a nonchalant shrug. “Serenity was kind enough to answer. Hope you don’t mind, I was nearly to your door so I just thought I’d come in.”

“Of course I don’t mind.” And then, as though making a snap decision, he wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her full on the lips. “Want me to take your bag?”

“Careful,” she said. “It might be booby-trapped.”

“I’ll take the risk. Be right back,” he said, then bounded off.

Lilly and Serenity exchanged a look. The younger girl looked - if that was possible - even more shocked than before. “Any chance for a coffee?” Lilly asked.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Yu Gi Oh or Shaman King.
> 
> This self-quarantine is driving me up the wall.

Whatever nightmares he’d harbored about his long-lost crush meeting his current dating partners, it did not fulfill itself that day. Lilly was as sweet and charming with Serenity as she had been intimidating on their first date - all attentive questions and interest, no mentions of whips and canes. When Serenity had asked her what she did for a living, she’d evaded with an ease like nothing else.

“Oh, bits and bobs,” she’d said. “I’m going a course on paranormal psychology at the college right now. What about yourself?”

Serenity spent more time talking about herself that morning than Duke had ever heard her say - not even on their one ill-dated date. By the time Yugi showed up to pick her up and thank Duke for looking after her, she and Lilly had exchanged numbers and were making plans to hang out again in the very near future.

“You know, you could have told her you met before,” Duke said, when the two of them were finally alone. He never thought this might happen, but he was actually relieved Serenity wasn’t in his flat. This was just… it was too much.

“I told you before, and I’ll tell you again - I’d rather make a good second impression than reinforce a bad first one.” Lilly toyed with her coffee cup, studying him over the rim. “You look uneasy. Worried I might actually tell her what I do for a living?” 

“What? No, of course not. I just…” Duke sighed. This was going to be easier if he just told her. “I used to compete for her attention with Yugi’s other friend, Tristan. She chose Tristan. I’m not hung up on it, I promise, but I… I guess I’m not entirely comfortable introducing ex-crushes with, you know… current crushes.”

“Oh, I’m a crush now, am I?” She smirked.

“You are the crush to end all crushes,” he said, then pulled a sheath of papers from a desk drawer. “Here. I printed these off the website and filled them out in advance.”

Lilly whistled as she read through the checklist, eyes widening a little at some of the pages. “That’s rather surprising,” she said, once she turned the final page. “I thought I might have to work you up to some of that harder stuff.”

He blushed and looked up at her from under his lashes. “I mean, I’m not saying I want to do everything immediately,” he said. “But um… I wouldn’t mind going there one day. If it pleases you.”

“I think it will.” Lilly pulled a pen out, then, going through the checklist, wrote more numbers against the items that Duke had given middle-to-high marks to. He asked her why she wasn’t scoring the things he’d rated low.

“Those things are hard limits to you, yes?” He’d nodded. “Then those are hard limits and we are not touching them.”

Duke made an understanding noise, although, really, he would have said anything just so that she could keep talking. As she started looking down the questions about multiple partners, he felt like he might die when he saw her put high scores against nearly each thing he’d included.

“You… ah… are you not going to comment on those?” he asked.

“Nothing beyond that I’m really looking forward to exploring those in more detail.” She bit the pencil pensively. Or not so pensively. “Bit too soon to introduce a new person but I have a lot of ideas. Now… ravishment play?” she asked. 

His blush deepened. 

“It’s not what you’re thinking,” he said. 

“Why don’t you tell me about that, and let me decide?” Lilly set the paper down for a moment and waited. When he couldn’t get the words out, she asked if it was him doing it.

“No, nothing like that, I just…” He groaned. “Look, when I was thirteen I stole my mother’s Cosmopolitan and read this sex tip… for the woman to set up an alarm or the stereo, put some jazz music on, and then, while her partner is still half-asleep, to like… um…”

“Arouse him and then fuck him while he isn’t sure whether he’s dreaming or not?” Lilly supplied.

“Yeah.” He looked down. “I know this is not okay to actually do without negotiating first. But like… that was why I put it there.”

She smiled, but it was a sad smile. “It’s a hard no for me, I’m afraid,” she said. “But I appreciate you being honest.”

“Oh. Um… thank you for being honest back.”

“We could discuss a few elements of that, later. Everything else,” she said, looking at the list again. “Everything else, I’m pretty cool with.”

“Really?” he sat up in his seat. “Everything?”

“To different degrees, but we score pretty high on the important stuff.” She set the papers aside. “And I approve of the bravery on the disciplining. It’s been a while since I fucked with someone’s head properly.”

“Were you planning on doing that today?” he shifted in his seat, trying not to appear too eager.

Her answering smile was everything he needed to hear.

***

Fifteen minutes later, though, he was sat on his floor, knees falling asleep, and wondering whether he ought to have done a bit more Googling before he filled out the list.

He splayed his hands open and counted his breaths. She was stood by the bed, unpacking things from her duffel bag: Velro straps, rope, spreader bars. She made no effort to hide those things from him - in fact, she laid them out directly where he could see them, ponder their various usages while she let him stew. He was under strict orders not to move or speak unless he was spoken to.

He wasn’t sure where the disciplining came in, or the head-fucking, but he was curious to see what she might come up with after a night of no sleep. 

Lilly walked into his closet and then came out, carrying one of his dress shirts. “Since you let your other friend borrow your clothes, I’m assuming you won’t mind if I make use of this,” she said, her tone light. Duke shrugged from the floor. “You may speak.”

“Whatever pleases you, ma’am,” he said. 

“No need for formalities. In fact,” she smirked. “I strongly suspect you’ll be swearing at me before the day is done.”

Then she walked past him and out of his sight. 

Duke had about ten seconds of peace before realizing that she’d left one of his wardrobe doors open. It had a full length mirror - another suggestion from his decorator - and now it afforded him a wonderful view of Lilly undressing in the corner of his room.

Did she realize she’d done it?

She gave no indication that this was the case, but did girls usually take their time with undressing like that? It occurred to him that he didn’t know. Maybe all women liked to unbutton their blouses and just letting them hang open as they slipped off their jeans. Maybe they all took their time to put up their hair while standing half-naked in their rooms. Maybe.

Then Lilly turned this way and that, seemingly distracted by the way her own body looked. Duke had to admit, she was pretty distracting. Then she pulled off the rest of her clothes. All of her clothes.

He was glad she couldn’t see his face from where she stood - not even his reflection in the mirror - because he was pretty sure he looked like he might be having a heart attack. 

And she wasn’t finished.

Oh no.

She stood in his room, completely naked, only to get dressed again. Bra first - purple lace - followed by a matching thong, and a sheer pair of thigh-high socks, each lovingly slid up her legs and fastened with a garter before she slipped her heels back on. 

And then she put his shirt to top of everything else.

Duke nearly came on the spot.

“Enjoyed that, did you?” she threw over her shoulder as she walked past and threw the cover off his bed.

“Very much so,” he said, then winced. “Sorry.”

Lilly smirked. “Oh, dear. I guess we’ll have to work on this obedience thing, won’t we?” She studied the toys she’d laid out, seemingly at a loss. Then, with a triumphant laugh, she pulled out a long length of blue rope from the lineup. “Now then, you wanted to try a more extreme form of binding. Ever heard of _ shibari _ ?”

Only recently, and it had prompted some of the most vivid fantasies he’d ever had. 

How was it that Lilly knew all the sorts of things he’d be into before he even did? 

“Here’s the deal,” she said. “I’ll bind you. You tell me when it gets uncomfortable. That works.”

Duke could only nod.

“Good boy. Now, stand up, and off with that shirt.”

It occurred to him - as she was looping the rope around his shoulders and binding his arms behind his back - that he’d been wrong. He’d thought that the binding was just a means to an end, a way to earn more pleasure. What he hadn’t realized that the binding could be an end of itself. That - knowingly or not - he was craving that more than anything else. When she’d undone his wrists the first night, he’d been lost. This time, he was planning not to come out of the bind at all.

“How’s it going?” she asked, as she kept going further and further. “Any pain? Discomfort?”

“No,” he said, then dropped a kiss on her shoulder as she moved in front of him. “No. This is perfect.”

“Perfect, huh.” She knelt down and started looping the rope around his hips. Then she paused her work, but only to pop his jeans open. “Well, well. What do we have here?”

Duke blushed. “Would this be a problem, ma’am?” he asked, polite as ever. 

“Not at all. In fact, it just made my life a lot more fun.” She adjusted his jeans so that his cock sprung free, but didn’t take them off any further and resumed her binding. He tried to keep his breathing focused but with every knot, every tightening of the rope, he started to disappear more and more, both happy and insanely turned on. The less attention she gave his cock, the more he ached for her to touch him. He got to a point where he was pretty much ready to beg, and she hadn’t even finished her handiwork.

All the while, Lilly kept talking to him. Gentle nudges here and there, reminding him to breathe, reminding him to regulate his breathing, as he seemed to fall deeper and deeper. By the time she helped him kneel down again, he was so far past any panic, he could have easily bruised his knees and he wouldn’t have cared.

“How does it feel?” she asked, caressing his cheek from behind.

“Amazing.” He inhaled deeply, feeling the pull of the rope holding him in place. “Like I’m being held, but everywhere.”

“That you are.” She knelt behind him and started to explore the skin of his arms, his back, his shoulder blades. He could feel her hands dancing on the rope, following the knots, teasing whatever skin she could find. His head started to loll forward.

And then her palms slid over his stomach. Duke inhaled sharply. 

“Look up,” she murmured. 

“Lilly—”

“That was an order, Devlin. Look up.”

Somehow, between them starting this scene and now, she’d maneuvered them so that they were both in front of his mirror. He barely recognized himself - disheveled, his body accentuated by the ropes, clothes askew and his cock jutting out proudly. He licked his lips. An obscene display - and her, in his shirt, dark hair spilling over his shoulder, kissing her side of his neck. 

“You’re beautiful,” she said in his ear, splaying her hands wider on his stomach. Duke inhaled sharply. “And today, I’m going to own your ass about fifteen different ways. Understood? Say yes, ma’am.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Mmm.” She licked up his neck. “You taste different today. I wonder why?”

Duke wanted to close his eyes, but something about their position… he wanted to see her. Needed to see her. Which meant he had to keep looking into the glass, had to keep seeing himself and seeing her touch him. In every way but the one he wanted to.

“I asked you a question, sweetie.”

“So-sorry.” He swallowed. “I forgot what it was.”

“Forgot, or didn’t want to say?” One of her hands tweaked his nipple, causing him to gasp. “Why do you taste different today?”

“Er… different shower gel, ma’am?”

She snorted. “You know what I think?” she asked, meeting his eyes in the mirror. “I think you and little Serenity there had a little bit more fun than you are willing to admit.”

His eyes widened. “No! She just got there. You got my text. I— We wouldn’t do that.”

“No?” She squeezed his thighs. “I wonder, if she were here, would she be willing to prove that? If I were to lick you right now, and she were here, do you think her pussy would taste the same?”

Duke’s vision started to blur. 

She wasn’t into rape fantasies, she’d said. But that wasn’t what she was offering. And even though there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Serenity would actually agree to join the two of them in bed, Lilly’s dirty talk was putting every obscene fantasy he’d had in the past two years into overdrive. 

“She’s with Tristan,” he muttered. 

“Then maybe Tristan can join us, too. Maybe I could put you both in time out, and then give that girl a few proper orgasms so that she knows what those feel like.” Finally, her hand wrapped around his cock again. “You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“What are we doing?”

He thought… he thought… he thought that woman was a sadist of the highest order. Because all he could think about was being tied up with Tristan, possibly gagged, and forced to watch as the two most beautiful women he’d ever seen in the world fell giggling into his bed.

Serenity wouldn’t. She was too pure. She was…

Lilly pressed her thumb against his crown, rubbing the slit and spreading the moisture there around. He wanted to cry from the feeling. 

“That’s not fair,” he muttered. “Serenity wouldn’t agree to that.”

“You sure?”

Sure? He knew. The girl was too pure for this world. He told Lilly so, which only made her laugh harder.

“I’ll tell you a little secret.” She bit his ear lightly. “People used to think I was too pure for this world, too. Little grade-A student, perfect attendance, zero interest in boys. My foster mom made me wear tartan skirts and brown vest tops, worried that if I showed even a little bit of skin, one of the boys at school would corrupt me. And guess what?”

“What?” he asked.

“The idea made me crave corruption all the more. I would go home after school and finger myself, imagining it was one of the boys who smoked behind the bike shelter who did it. All I wanted was for one of them to notice me. To beg me for sex, fuck me, and then walk me home with my panties in his pocket.”

“Did you?” Duke was momentarily distracted by that mental image. Then he wondered if he could arrange to do that to her. “Did you get them to do that?”

“Nah. Cowards, the lot of them,” Lilly chuckled. “But I had those fantasies long before I knew what I wanted. And the more people told me what a good girl I was, the more I wanted to do them.” She started, tortuously slow, to pump her hand up and down his length. “How do you know your Serenity doesn’t feel the same way? How do you know she doesn’t secretly have a fantasy where a bad, bad lady pushes her onto a bed, rips off her skirt, and then licks her while her boyfriend watches from the corner?”

He came before she was finished speaking. 

He came, harder than he’d ever done before, with nothing but her voice in his ear, and the rope and her hands to support him.

And all he could do was gasp Lilly’s name, again and again, simultaneously lost and yet completely and utterly at peace.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own... oh, for the love of fuck, if I owned Yu Gi Oh and Shaman King, would I be writing about this here? 
> 
> Maybe. 
> 
> Damn.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the totally fan-made, just-for-my-own-amusement fruits of my quarantined labour.

“I don’t know if I can look at my friends the same way again.” 

She’d moved him onto the bed, changing the ties so that he was lying with his hands bound above his head this time - as she prepared for attempt two of fifteen of “Own Duke Devlin’s ass this Sunday”. She paused what she was doing to give him a triumphant grin.

“Right, because all you have done so far is fantasize about chastely holding hands,” Lilly said.

Duke sighed and rested his cheek on the bedspread. He either didn’t realize what a picture he made, or he did, and he was secretly trying to torture her. She didn’t know, and she didn’t really care. They were having fun today. She could do her over-thinking another time. 

“You wouldn’t actually…” He frowned. “You wouldn’t actually do that to them, would you? Because I really don’t think they are the type.”

Lilly considered this. She had only glimpsed Tristan before, and Serenity had seemed terrified of her… which didn’t say much, but she supposed it was in line with what Duke said. 

“Not unless it was part of an actual scene,” she said. “And even then, I wouldn’t bring it up without them first agreeing to it.”

“They wouldn’t.”

“No. But it was pretty nice to imagine it.”

Duke sighed quietly. “I can’t believe I put that on the checklist.”

“I do.” She rubbed his shoulders, testing for any signs of fatigue. Surprisingly, he was more relaxed in his bindings than out of them. “It’s just a fantasy,” she added. “A fantasy you kept to yourself and now you shared with me. We’re not acting out on it or forcing anybody to join in. We’re doing something in private for our own pleasure. We would never actively go out and hurt them in that way. Does that make sense?” 

He nodded, smiling. 

“Good. Stay like that, I want to admire that pretty ass of yours in the ropes for a while longer.”

“I was thinking…” He started, then stopped when she sat into one of his chairs, spread her legs wide open and started touching herself. “Er…”

“Yes?” Lilly breathed, smiling. “What were you thinking?”

“Um, right.” He blinked. “That thing you told me about—”

“Which one?”

“About the… bad boys corrupting you. Is that something you… ever acted out?”

Lilly paused. She hadn’t been expecting him to actually be paying attention by that point, not really. Then again, Duke had managed to pay significant attention to her when she least expected him to. She gave him a smile. “Not exactly. Why? You interested?”

He cleared his throat, trying to sound suave even though his eyes were fixed on her crotch. It was just too cute.

“I don’t know how that fits in the whole D/s thing,” Duke said. “But um… if that’s still a fantasy of yours…”

Too cute.

She was about to say so when the doorbell rang. Followed by another ring, and then incessant pounding of fists. “OPEN UP, DEVLIN!” a loud, annoyed voice rang through the entire apartment. “We know she’s in here, you goddamn pervert!”

Lilly raised an eyebrow.

Duke looked - truly and properly - terrified.

“Friends of yours?” she asked, slowly pulling her hand out of her underwear. 

“I’m starting to doubt it,” he said. He took a few quick, sharp breaths, seemingly on the verge of hyperventilating. 

“DEVLIN! You’ve got thirty seconds to open this door and let my sister out before we break it down!”

She snorted, the situation becoming clear. “Let me guess,” she asked, wiping her fingers on his shirt. “Somebody didn’t tell them Serenity had left?”

Duke cursed and closed his eyes. “I forgot… I’m sorry. I—” he froze, as if contemplating the amount of time it would take to get him free.

“Want me to get rid of them for you?” 

“God, please.” 

She grinned and wrapped the shirt around herself like a cape. “Be right back then. Don’t go anywhere?”

His shaky laugh sounded only two decibels away from panicked.

***

Duke’s friends hadn’t been kidding - they looked poised to kick down the door by the time she swung it open. And even then - with her clearly standing in the threshold - it took them a good five seconds to realize that, yes, this was a half-naked woman in front of them, and no, she was most certainly not Serenity.

Lilly gave Joey and Tristan a shy grin.

“Morning, gentlemen,” she said. “Serenity left about an hour ago. Did you not get a message to say she’s home?”

Two pairs of eyes blinked at her owlishly.

She waited.

“Er…” Tristan dug through his pocket and pulled out his phone. “S… sorry. She hasn’t called yet.”

“Her phone was pinging from this building,” Joey explained. “We… she… she’s not here, you say?”

“Afraid not,” Lilly said. “Want to look around?”

The two boys swallowed hard, trying to be subtle as they stared at her up and down. She could practically hear them weighing up their options. 

It was pretty clear that they had interrupted something. And it was also the kind of something they were convinced Serenity would never participate in. They _ could _ have a look around, on the off chance she and Duke were doing something depraved to the poor girl, but despite their threats, they clearly didn’t think that was the case, or else they would have broken in already. Far more likely that she was still in the neighborhood and the phone was pinging off a nearby cell tower. They could go and find her at Yugi’s place, and they would not have to deal with further embarrassment.

Just to be nice, she opened the door a bit wider and started to step aside.

“Oh, a text from Yugi just came,” Tristan said. “Serenity lost her phone apparently. They’ve been looking for it all morning.”

“Huh.” Joey shook his head. “Go figure. Sorry to disturb ya, miss…”

“Not at all.” She gave them her blandest, most oblivious smile. “If the phone turns up here, I’m sure Duke’ll bring it back.”

“Er, sure… but um… no rush, you know. Um… you two just keep doin’ what you’re doin’…” Joey blushed. “Um…”

“Of course.” She winked. “Have a nice Sunday!”

And before they could reply, she closed the door to their faces.

_ Seriously. Men. _

She flounced back into the bedroom, pretending to dust off her hands, and found Duke with his eyes closed, still breathing rapidly. 

“They’re gone.” She sat down on the bed, caressing his face. “I gave them the option of looking around and they fled like their asses were on fire.”

“Great,” he wheezed.

Lilly frowned, then pressed her hand against his cheek. “Duke? You don’t look so good, sweetie.”

He licked his lips. He didn’t open his eyes. “Lilly… I can’t remember… my word…”

She was undoing the ropes before he was even finished speaking. 

***

When Duke lost his virginity, he was sure there would never be a worse humiliation in his life.

His date with Serenity had topped that, easily. But apparently, that event was not meant to hold the number one spot for long.

“I’m so sorry,” he kept on saying. “I don’t know what got into me.”

Sex was bad enough when he was worried about performing, and now he was liable for panic attacks in the middle of a scene. This was, truly, the worst day of his life.

Lilly hadn’t even blinked - she’d unbound him more quickly than it seemed humanely possible, wrapped him in his sheets and then crawled in bed to hold him to her chest. At first all he’d done was shiver, cradled between her arms and legs. He’d thought he’d never feel better again.

Then his breathing returned to normal, and the full realization of what had happened hit him like a ton of bricks.

“I’m so, so sorry,” he muttered again.

“Duke, if you apologize to me one more time, I’m going to tie you up and flog you in a way you will not like,” Lilly said. Her voice - brusque and matter-of-fact - contrasted with the gentle way she caressed his hair and shoulders. 

How could she be okay with this? He could see the clock ticking away, their time together slipping through their fingers… and he was there having a hissy fit because his friends _ might _ have seen him naked.

She sighed, and, as if sensing his dilemma, started to speak. “Trust goes both ways,” Lilly said. Her fingers twined through his hair and started rubbing his scalp. “You trust me to push your boundaries but not violate them during a scene. I trust you to tell me if something doesn’t feel good so that I don’t accidentally go over the line.”

“But we agreed…” he murmured.

“Yeah? If we were having vanilla sex, and I said yes at first but then told you I’m hurting, would you keep on going? If I asked you to stop halfway through, would you ignore that on the basis of our prior agreement?”

Duke winced and then buried his face in the crook of her elbow. “Point taken,” he said.

Lilly kissed the top of his head and cradled him closer. “Just because I enjoy dominance doesn’t mean that I don’t care about your feelings,” she said. “I would have been very upset if I found out that you were scared or panicking, but pushed on with a scene because you thought that I would be unhappy. Will you look at me, please?”

Duke gritted his teeth and braced himself. Then he slowly met her eyes.

She gave him a smile. “Thank you for looking out for us.” She kissed his forehead. “Now, how do you feel about getting some food?”

He stumbled out of bed, awkward at first, and then even more so as he watched her move around his kitchen. He’d stocked up… sort of. 

Okay, fine.

He’d gotten beer, energy drinks, and pizza.

But Lilly was able to find hot chocolate and marshmallows (when had he bought those? Maybe it was a gift from his mother) and then, miracle of miracles, managed to get his coffee machine working for long enough to steam milk for their drinks. “I didn’t even know it could do that,” he admitted, when she asked him if he had cappuccinos on the regular.

“Duke, forgive me for saying so, but you don’t seem to like your home very much,” she said, preparing the hot chocolates with the ease of an expert. 

“How so?” 

“The first time I was here, you didn’t know that the lights in your room had a dimming feature,” Lilly said. “You seemed pretty surprised you had a mirror earlier. And you purchased a professional-grade coffee machine that you don’t appear to be using.”

If she was trying to distract him, she was doing a fantastic job of it. “My decorator said it gave the right look,” Duke said, shrugging. “I had my own thoughts on the matter, but he made it pretty clear that he thought I was wrong.”

“And of course, you couldn’t just fire him and find an internal designer you liked,” she said in a deadpan voice, as she slid the cup across the table to him. “Or heaven forbid, do your own decorating.”

He blushed. “I had other things on my mind,” he muttered, then took a sip. “Holy shit. This is fantastic.”

“See, if I were your _ decorator _, I’d have pointed out that’s what people pay for.” Lilly opened his fridge again, pulled out a few items and started assembling what looked like the world’s fiddliest sandwiches. “It’s about comfort and having things in your home that make you feel good, even if it means putting up with a lot of fuss. You get the fancy fixtures and the nice kitchenware and the tailored clothes because it fills your life with beauty. Not because it’s what people expect to see.”

Duke stared at her, minutely. “How do you know about the clothes?” he asked, when he finally got his voice to work. 

“This shirt I’ve got on? Thousand-thread cotton, French cuffs, and—” she took out the sales tag from the breast pocket “—hasn’t even been taken to a dry cleaner yet, because you use it so little.”

That… was actually true. And he was starting to squirm in his seat.

“It’s not that I don’t like these things,” he said, finally. “It’s just that… I’ve been so busy with my company and my game, I couldn’t find the time to go home decorating. And I didn’t want to live at my parents’ place forever.”

“I’m not judging, you know.” She put the sandwiches under his grill and stood back. “I like nice things. I like them even more now that I can afford them. It just makes me sad to see you deny yourself pleasure when it’s in such easy reach for you.”

He had a sudden realization.

They weren’t talking about his clothes or his coffee machine or his light fixtures. 

Not entirely, anyway.

“Are you asking… what are you asking, actually? Because I remember a very wise dominatrix telling me that communication is vital.” He didn’t mean for his voice to sound so hard. But it did.

Lilly, to her credit, didn’t seem to take it personally. Reaching out, she caressed his face again. “Will you tell me what happened back there? I’m not trying to be mean—” she added, when he snorted in disbelief “—but if it was something I did, then I’d rather know.” After a silence that went for too long, she tried, “Was it the way you were tied?”

“No.” He sighed. “No, I like that. You know I like that.”

“You did, earlier.” She paused. “Was it what I was saying to you wrong? Too much dirty talk?”

“Lilly, I can come from your dirty talk alone.” Duke felt his ears burning. Had he just said that? Out loud? 

“We can test that another day,” she said. “Did I leave you alone for too long?”

“Look, it’s embarrassing.” He ducked his head and stood up, under the guise of checking the food. “So long as we don’t get random people bursting in on us having sex again, I should be fine.”

“That so?” She padded over to where he was at. She’d taken off her heels and stockings, but he could still see the garters peeking out from under the hem of his shirt. If only he were the kind of guy who could just… initiate things. If he could just distract them both…

But no. He had to date a woman whose job it was to tease people’s dark secrets out into the open.

“I love this look on you,” he said. “Very sexy.”

“Your effort at distraction is acknowledged and appreciated,” she replied, reaching around him to switch the grill off before they set off the smoke alarm. “But I’m not letting you side-track me. What threw you, really? You didn’t believe they would actually come in, did you?”

Duke closed his eyes. “No.”

“They are your friends. You bust each other’s balls all the time, but they would never actually hurt you.”

“They wouldn’t. They… everyone is really good to me. Even when I don’t deserve it.”

“And you are good to them.” She smoothed her hands over his chest. Just a minute earlier, he hadn’t been at all embarrassed for standing in his kitchen without a shirt on. Now, he was feeling more than naked. “On the off chance they burst in… were you afraid they would give you a hard time about your kinks?”

He bowed his head.

“No,” he admitted. “But I’m not sure they’d keep it to themselves either.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Yu Gi Oh or Shaman King.
> 
> I own a bored muse. Or rather, she owns me. Clearly.

Misery thrives on empty stomachs.

Conversely, she held a firm belief that preparing a meal for someone - even something as dull as a grilled cheese sandwich - went a lot further in helping them during a hard time than a million fights or operatic anger. Lilly could only think of one time when food hadn’t been able to help a situation out - and that time had been truly special.

“This is delicious,” Duke said. “How did you get the bread to do that… I mean, how?”

She smirked. “Practice,” she said. “And lots of butter.”

He groaned. “You are killing me. Is there anything you can’t do?”

“Online taxes. In fact, anything online.”

“I’ll help you do your taxes if you teach me how to make croque monsieurs like that,” he said, finishing off his plate and leaning back against her legs. “That was fantastic, thank you.”

She smiled and ruffled his hair.

They were sat in the living room - she on the couch, him on the floor. She hadn’t directed him to do it - in fact, she would have preferred it if he sat by her side for this - but Duke genuinely seemed more at ease when he was sat down on the boards than on any piece of furniture in his home.

_ Then again, is it surprising at all? _

Kink shame wasn’t new to her - plenty of the people who came to the Sword of Damocles spent their first nights sorting through their feelings and secret shames. Before they even attempted the lightest of plays, they had to work themselves up to it, trying to come to terms with the fact that it was okay for them to do so. 

Duke could barely bring himself to ask for things. It was as though he thought he didn’t deserve even the slightest bit of personal pleasure.

“I feel like a terrible host,” he said, resting his head on her knee. “I invited you over but we have barely done anything.”

“Careful,” she said. “Don’t make any offers you can’t follow up on.”

Duke looked up at her. “You’d never actively harm me, would you?”

“Knowingly? No. But I do play by RACK rules.”

“Which one was rack again?”

“Risk-aware consensual kink.” She tapped his chin. “I may have started you off easy, but checklists don’t guarantee anything. Obviously.”

There was a long silence as he pondered this. She hadn’t pushed him earlier on explaining his lack of trust in his friends, but she wasn’t restarting a scene until he was ready again.

“This will sound so dumb,” he started, turning his attention to a spot on the carpet.

“Boundaries aren’t dumb,” Lilly said, firmly. “They’re just different for everyone.”

“I don’t know if it’s a boundary or just a very weird hang-up,” he said, sighing. His arm wrapped around her leg and cradled her calf as he got more comfortable on the floor. As though he was afraid the ground might open up and swallow him whole, but he didn’t trust any other surface in the apartment either. “I’m kinda hot.”

“Oh?” she said, dryly. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Yeah, well… other people did. From ages ago. I didn’t even get an awkward phase - one day I was this kid, running around and playing Duel Monsters, the next every girl in my school was talking about what a hottie I was.” His body visibly flinched at that. As if he were remembering an insult. “I mean, I was flattered and everything. Who wouldn’t be? But I never had that many friends to begin with, and I was pretty introverted. I assumed people would get over the novelty eventually.”

He paused. 

After a couple of minutes, Lilly prompted him. “I guess they didn’t?”

“No. They didn’t.” Duke sighed. “At some point, I decided that I might as well embrace my new popularity. I went to parties. I practiced being smooth. I chatted up girls. Got some practice doing… sex stuff, though I never went the whole way with anybody. Then I got the seed money to start my game, and I was even more of a celebrity. I—”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know. The more time passed, the more I felt like I was being built up to be someone I wasn’t. The cheerleaders, the attention… none of it was for me, it was all the company and the glamour of being a teenaged CEO. Kind of like Kaiba, except Kaiba actually owned this success. All I ever felt like was a fraud.”

Lilly slid off the sofa and sat behind him, wrapping her arms and legs tighter against him. “So what happened?” she asked.

Duke laced his fingers through hers. “I decided that I was making myself more nervous than I ought to be. So I started dating a girl and lost my virginity to her and… it was bad.”

“Bad like—?”

“Just… bad. Quick and awkward and just disappointing. I told myself it would get better, and she clearly thought the same, except every time, I was at a loss as to what I should do. And I couldn’t get any help - nothing I read online made sense, and she always said she felt like she was in a bad porno whenever I asked her to tell me what to do.”

Lilly winced in sympathy. “That sounds massively unhelpful,” she said into his back.

“We broke up soon enough. I’m just glad she didn’t broadcast the story to every tabloid in the city.” He sighed. “I tried again, though. Went out with other women. But we never got past more than a few dates - even when they encouraged me to keep on trying, all I could think of was how disappointing it was for them. And still, I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong.”

“Did you ask your friends?” 

“I couldn’t, Lilly.” He sighed. “They all assume I’m this playboy rich kid who already has the world on a silver platter.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to have your own struggles.”

“It just… there never seemed to be a right time,” Duke said. “And I’m embarrassed to talk to them about it.”

“I see.”

“After… well, at one point, I just decided to give up,” he went on. “I told you I was last with someone six months ago, but really, I gave up on the idea of being with anybody ages before that. I just couldn’t bring myself to disappoint anybody ever again. I wouldn’t have gone to the club if my mentor hadn’t told me to scope out the competition. But the first time I saw the pictures from the Sword… and then when you strapped me onto that cross…” 

He leaned back against her, eyes closed. Lilly kissed his cheek and smoothed the hair away from his forehead.

“What was that like?” she asked. “How did it feel for you, Devlin?”

“It felt like I was finally free,” he admitted. “It felt like I could let go of the pressure and just feel.” A soft laugh escaped him. “Jesus, listen to me. I told you this was stupid.”

Lilly huffed. “You’d be surprised.”

***

Duke cracked one eye open, studying her. She didn’t look like she was joking, but…

“Surely you don’t get people coming to you saying ‘I’m too hot for my own good, please flog me’ all the time.”

“Oh, I get those,” she said, flippantly. “But that’s not what I was talking about.”

His breath caught.

For years, he’d held onto the memories like shameful secrets. All the times he’d heard ‘Done already?’ All the barely concealed disappointment. All the times he’d left people’s apartments without leaving his number or asking one in return. Duke Devlin, bad at sex. He’d carried that chorus inside his head, even as he built a good business, a good life for himself. Those private moments defined every interaction he’d had with people ever since that first time.

And now he was spilling his guts to a woman he only knew for a week. A woman with a talent for torture and zero tolerance for idiocy, who treated this deep dark secret like just another day in the office.

“What is it then?” he managed.

Because he wanted to know.

He needed to know.

Lilly trailed her lips along his shoulder, his neck, his ear. “We all play to scripts,” she said. “They are pretty explicit in my scene because negotiation is so important. But trust matters, regardless if you are into hardcore kink or if you are vanilla.”

She straightened out, and then started massaging his shoulders. Duke didn’t want her to - he needed her to keep on talking - but she seemed determined to work out the tension from every muscle he had before she got to her point.

“You know the best way to tell when someone is vanilla?” Lilly asked. “They will tell you that negotiation kills the mood.”

Duke let out a hysterical laugh. She had no way of knowing about his comments from his first day, but…

“And then they keep insisting on it,” she went on. “They insist on it to the point where they are mad when you so much as ask a simple question. See, it doesn’t matter whether you want to spit in someone’s mouth during sex, or find out just how they like to be eaten out - you should be able to have an honest conversation about it beforehand. The problem is, some people find that idea abhorrent. They have one script inside their head, there is no deviation from that script, and even when they like a person very much, they cannot bring themselves to talk to them.”

His head whirred.

“My exes were very lovely people,” he said. “Smart, successful… wild.”

“And what did they do, when they saw you were at a loss? When they realized you didn’t know how to bring them pleasure?”

Duke blushed. He was supremely glad she wasn’t able to see his face right this moment. “They said we should keep trying.”

“What did they do differently, when you kept on trying?”

“…nothing different, I guess. It was more… um… giving me a chance to figure it out.”

She huffed. “The first time we were together, if I recall, you were a pretty quick study.” His blush deepened. The rest of the blood in his body started flowing southward, as she kept on talking. “In fact, once I get you out of your own head, you are perfectly capable of taking over. Oh, sure, you like the kink,” she bit his neck, swirling her tongue around and causing him to pant a little. “But not because you just want to lay there while someone else does all the work.”

“Lilly…” he said. “What are you saying?”

She paused her ministrations, leaning her chin on his shoulder. “I’m saying, sometimes people hurt us despite their best intentions,” she said, her voice pensive. “And that we all need different scripts when it comes to life. And sex. You hadn’t found one that worked for you before.”

He closed his eyes and held himself still, trying - really, really trying - to just be in the moment and not let his own head run away from him again.

_ She’s just saying it, _ his brain screamed. _ She’s lying - she must be! _

But even if she was… even if she was, so what? 

He wanted to believe her. 

“I think I have a script that works for me now,” he said, quietly.

“Oh?” There was a pleased laughter in her voice. “And what is that?”

Duke opened his eyes and turned to face her. “A beautiful woman,” he said, kissing her cheek. “Telling me exactly what she wants me to do and how to do it.”

“Easy there,” she said, putting her leg on his shoulder and pushing him to sit back on his heels. “You ready to restart the scene?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“And you remember you safe word again?”

He nodded. Although, if there was one thing he knew, it was that she had his back. Even without the safe word. 

“Good.” She pushed herself up until she was sat back on the couch. Then she slid her fingers under the chain he wore around his neck and guided him until he was kneeling between her open legs. “What do you think about my outfit, Devlin?” she asked.

“Best use for a button down I’ve ever seen,” he said, honestly.

“Hmm… well. I’m feeling a bit overdressed. Unbutton this for me.”

He grinned, even as his hands trembled a little. It was nice to see that bra again. Nicer still to be up close where he could examine the lace at his leisure.

Then he noticed what was under that lace and stopped. 

The first time they’d had sex, he’d been half-blind with lust, desperate for any sort of release. Now, in the afternoon light, he could see her body clearly, and he couldn’t believe the amount of scars on her.

He looked up, only to find Lilly was already shaking her head.

“Not the point of today,” she said. “And you’re not allowed to touch these until I give you permission to. Do you understand me? Say yes, ma’am if you do.”

Duke’s mouth was suddenly dry. He managed a nod.

“Good enough. Now, take off my panties.”

That, he was more than happy to do.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Yu Gi Oh or Shaman King.

The next four weeks passed in a blur. 

Okay, no. No, they did not. 

Duke was still working like a dog for his business, and Lilly was still destroying her worthless clients on a near-nightly basis.

But when she had a night off, she was there. And if he happened to have other plans… well, he just found ways to rearrange them.

“Now that’s just mean,” Sharona said, after she listened to Lilly on the phone. “What if he was really looking forward to seeing his friends?”

“He told me that he was dreading that hangout last week,” she said. “And anyway, he could always suggest we hang out with them together. I’m a domme, not a tyrant.”

“Are you sure he knows that?”

Lilly rolled her eyes and stuffed a piece of toast in her mouth. The upside of hooking up with someone new, she decided, was finally having too much to do. The devil loved idle hands. “If you were so concerned for him, you shouldn’t have set us up,” she said.

Millie, who was doing her homework at the table, snorted so loudly it echoed through the flat.

“And have you something to say, little miss?” Lilly asked.

“Nothing. I’m just pleased for you,” Millie replied. “You’re a lot less grumpy now that you are getting laid.”

“Careful. If Ellie or Sally heard you, you’d be doing trig from now until the end of time.”

The younger girl let out a miserable wail. “Why? Why must it always be trig?”

“Because you hate it. It’s not much of a punishment if we gave you something easy to do.” Sharona pushed the textbook towards her. 

Although… in fairness, maybe they were pushing her a little hard. 

Millie had turned fourteen this summer and, much as they tried not to show it, she was already doing quite well for herself. Her school scores put her much higher than her regular classmates and she took the National Exams with only minimal difficulty. The only reason she was doing trig at all was because she’d been put on the advanced maths class. She didn’t like being labeled a nerd, but she wasn’t about to back down from a real challenge either. Lilly respected that.

“Tell you what,” she said. “If you keep your mouth shut about my relationship, the next time you get in trouble, I’ll make you do English instead.”

“Speaking of getting into trouble,” Sharona said, “I was thinking of maybe having a little dinner party. We haven’t had a chance to entertain at our new apartment yet - it’ll be nice to have a grown-up housewarming.”

“What? No body shots and strip poker?” Lilly asked, voice monotone. She couldn’t remember the last time any of them had been out to party, let alone did anything even remotely reckless. 

“No, you succubus, I said a grown-up housewarming,” the blonde said. “With fancy dishes and red wine and sophisticated conversation.”

“I like my version better.”

“And I’d like to actually have an adulthood,” Sharona said. “I’m going to ask Seto and Mokuba over. I’ve already spoken to Sally and Ellie and they’re both happy to bust our balls over dinner. You should invite Duke.”

Lilly was almost out of the kitchen by that point. She knew how long it would take her to get across town and she wasn’t planning on wasting a minute longer—

“Why would I invite Duke?” she asked, stopping and turning.

Sharona rolled her eyes. “Because you spend every free night at his place?”

“Yeah, cause we’re christening every flat surface in his home, not because we’re planning our white picket fence and 2.4 kids.” Lilly crossed her arms in front of her chest, feeling - just a tiny bit - defensive. “Sorry, Millie,” she added, almost as an afterthought.

“At least you didn’t bring butt plugs into it,” the younger girl said, not looking up from her notebook.

“You go on dates,” Sharona said, not perturbed. Holding out her hand, she started to tick items off one by one. “He texts you like it’s going out of fashion - and not just to arrange booty calls either. You are pegging him—”

“I’m going to peg him,” Lilly corrected. “We need to work our way up to it.”

“What you’re doing is training him to be a submissive. _ Your _ submissive,” Sharona said, without an ounce of judgment in her voice. “And from that glow on your face, I’d say he’s taking to it quite well. How, exactly, is that not a relationship?”

“Vanilla sex left him traumatized,” Lilly said. “I’m just helping him find his confidence.”

“Right, you’re shoving a plastic cock up his ass as an act of public service.”

Lilly threw her hands into the air. “I thought we were trying not to corrupt Millie here! If this keeps up, I’m going to start cleaning my tools in the living room again.”

Both her roommates rolled their eyes at her. 

“Fine,” Sharona said, at last. “Keep deluding yourself. Just don’t break your rules with Duke, okay? The world needs more sweet people.”

***

Lilly didn’t usually let her friends get to her. She liked to think she had gotten past that point with them already.

Then again, she had Duke tied up and blindfolded within thirty minutes of her arrival, and she was making him choose between a crop, a flogger, or the cat-o-nine tails. Not because they had specifically discussed exploring his pain limits tonight. No.

“What’s it going to be?” she asked. “And bear in mind, the longer you take to choose, the longer I’m going to whip you.”

No. She had a point to prove. To herself if not to anybody else.

“Flogger,” he said. 

She’d shown him what each of her implements did early on, when they were in discussion mode. But during a scene… well, that was entirely different. She had to be very, very careful. Very gentle, too.

The first whip had him collapsing against the bed.

Okay, fine. More or less gentle.

Lilly had discovered some of his pain thresholds over the last few weeks. He liked the crop. He liked clamps. He could come from just her scoring his back with her fingernails. The flogger would be an easy thing to add to their scenes. 

She teased him a little, keeping her next few strikes as gentle as a caress. Then, just as he was beginning to relax, she landed another hard strike, right between his shoulder blades.

“Goddamn it!” Duke rasped. 

“No need for that,” she replied. “You may just call me Mistress.”

“You get paid for tha-Argh!”

“I’m sorry,” she said, drawing back and then hitting again. “What was that?”

No response came. And all the better.

_ Sweet people. What a fucking farce. _

Lilly grinned and continued her assault, varying between his back, his sides, and his ass. He was cursing and groaning into his pillow, but he wasn’t flinching away from the flogger. If anything, he seemed to be leaning into the strikes, anticipating them, as though he was coming to crave the pain as much as the pleasure.

Most of all, she knew he loved the ropes. She’d been practicing the bind all week just so that she could put him in it tonight, and now, looking at her handiwork, she had to admit it was worth every effort. She could see every hard outline of his muscles, every beautiful tendon stretched out. His skin contrasted wonderfully with the dark ties, and she loved how it darkened from her assault.

Strike. Strike. Strike.

_ He is better than sweet. He is mine. _

Lilly froze, hand drawn back. 

_ What the hell?! _

She listened to him pant and catch his breath. In the back of her head, she probably realized she’d hit him pretty hard already. Carefully, Lilly set the flogger down and ran her hands over his legs, his back, his buttocks. He whimpered from the contact, but didn’t safe out. 

He was trusting her to get him where they would both enjoy this.

Lilly moved her hands to his front. His cock was hard enough to pound nails.

“Look at you,” she whispered, pressing her own thighs against his back. “You’re so beautiful.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” he managed, before letting out another moan. She barely had to touch him anymore - a few practiced strokes and he came with a harsh cry, sagging against his binds. She held him, kissing his back and his neck.

“That’s it,” she kept saying. “There you go. You’re doing so well, darling. I’m so proud of you.”

Duke curled in on himself. Not in self-protection - he was sated.

Lilly could continue. She wanted to continue. She thought sadly about the other things she’d brought tonight, all the ways in which she wanted to enjoy him.

But she couldn’t. 

Sharona was fucking right. Lilly wasn’t just enjoying a nice fling - she was training this man to be her submissive. 

This man, who had a full-blown panic attack at his friends hearing him do something even remotely kinky in the bedroom. She was going straight to hell for this.

“I’m going to change up your position, okay?” Lilly said quietly, undoing the O-ring that held him tied to his headboard and then the one that had his ankles bound as well. With his arms and legs freed, she laid him up on his side and then spooned him from behind, caressing his skin through the diamonds of the ropes.

Just because she was having a crisis didn’t mean skimping on the aftercare. 

They lay there while he caught his breath. Then he turned around and, even though he was still blindfolded with his own hairband, he found her face and then her mouth and kissed her. 

That wouldn’t have been allowed in a scene.

Lilly was done scening, though.

***

“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to add the water so fast to the saucepan.”

“Oh, stop it with the backseat chef-ing. I read the recipe, didn’t I? This will just speed up the process.”

“We’re all going to starve.”

If anybody had told Duke six weeks ago that he would be spending his Saturday night at a girl’s house, having dinner with her roommates and the Kaiba brothers, he would have asked them what the hell they were smoking and if they would share. 

Admittedly, he wasn’t “having dinner” yet because Sharona and Lilly were too busy arguing over proper technique. The former insisted she knew better. The latter had to remind her to take the saucepan off the heat lest the broth boil over - something which seemed to kick the argument up a notch.

Duke glanced across the room. Mokuba and Millie - the youngest roommate - were sat at the dinner table, playing a game of Duel Monsters, completely oblivious to the argument. Seto Kaiba - whose girlfriend was currently threatening to bludgeon Lilly with a ladle - was scrolling on his phone as though none of this had any bearing to him whatsoever.

“Erm…” Duke said, after a while. “Shouldn’t we try to break them up?”

“The last time I got in the middle of an argument between these two, I ended up in the doghouse for a week,” Kaiba the elder said. “If you’d like to try your luck, be my guest.”

“FOR FUCK’S SAKES, LILLY, WHY CAN’T YOU DO SOMETHING USEFUL?!”

“I’M TRYING TO, BITCH, BUT YOU’RE IN MY FUCKING WAY!”

“Yeah, no, I think I’m good,” Duke muttered, wondering what in the world had possessed him to accept that invitation. Lilly had given him every possible option to say no - reiterating, up to and including on the day of the dinner - that he was not obliged to come. 

Except he’d wanted to meet her friends. And he was curious to see how Kaiba was like in private. Despite the two of them being classmates and in business together - sort of - Duke had no idea who the man was.

If what he was seeing was any indication, though, Seto Kaiba was exactly the same cold bastard with his girlfriend as he was to the rest of the world. 

Just as Duke was thinking what a nightmare this evening was going to be, the other man looked up and added, “Relax. There is a pizza place down the block and they do home deliveries. It’ll be fine.”

“Not the point,” Millie said from across the room. 

“Do you want us to meet the point, Pipsqueak, or do you want us to eat?” Seto asked. The younger girl stuck her tongue out to him before returning to her game. Duke, meanwhile, stared like the other man had grown a second head. 

Lilly stormed out of the kitchen, looking pissed. “I have been banished,” she announced and then started to set the table for dinner. “I have done my best, and when we are eating lasagne for the _ fifth _ night in a row, I reserve my right to say I told you so until we choke down the last bitter bite.”

“So, another delightful evening then,” Kaiba replied, but put his phone away. Without asking, he opened a cupboard and started to take out wine glasses. “Red or white?”

“We might have to go for the hard stuff if Sharona goes through with that recipe,” Lilly said. “Shot glasses and tequila is on your left.”

“After last Friday, I’m surprised any of you are allowed to even walk into a liquor store.”

“We have our ways.”

He’d fallen into an alternate universe. That was the only explanation. 

Duke moved to help only for Lilly to shoo him away. Millie and Mokuba cleared their things without complaint while Seto and his… girlfriend? Dominatrix?… finished setting the table. Never in his life had he seen Kaiba deliberately move to help anyone without being cajoled or bribed. He wasn’t sure any of his friends would believe it if he told them.

Then again, none of them spent that much time with the Kaiba brothers. Which made sense, because the Kaiba brothers clearly spent all their time in this apartment.

“So er… what is the plan for tonight?” he’d shown up with a bottle of Merlot - his attempt at following the “grown-up dinner party” directive - and he’d pretty much spent the rest of his stay on the couch, watching the kitchen circus unfold from the corner of his eye. 

“Officially, we’ll sit down at eight, and eat a meal like civilized people, drink wine and make polite conversation,” Kaiba said. 

“Officially?”

“There’s an agenda. With bullet points and timings, because you and Sharona are freaks,” Lilly said, sounding disgusted.

Kaiba didn’t seem particularly phased by that. He took one of the wine bottles, uncorked it easy, practised movements, and started filling the cups. “There’s nothing wrong with being prepared - which you would know, Lilian, if you bothered to read any of the emails.”

“I’m prepared all the time,” she took the glass he offered her and took a big swig. “I just don’t see why you have to inflict your very specific household kinks on us as well.”

Duke choked on thin air. 

“So, erm…” he said, not wanting to dwell too much on what that meant, “What’s the unofficial agenda then?”

There was a sizzle and a bang from the kitchen, followed by Sharona cussing a blue streak. Lilly closed her eyes briefly and sighed. “Kaiba--”

“I’m on it,” he said, before walking briskly into the kitchen. There was a sound of pots banging and Sharona swearing for a few more seconds, before the noise died down.

Duke glanced at Lilly. Her wine glass was empty.

“Um…” he started, unsure how to proceed.

“That was the sound of our dinner getting ruined,” she said. There was a pause, before she added. “And that’s the sound of a pot being doused in water so that someone might scrub it clean later. I give them maybe a minute before they come in and tell us we’re ordering takeout.”

Two minutes passed. Then three. Duke was starting to get worried, when Kaiba walked out of the kitchen, carrying Sharona over his shoulder. His tie was askew and he had lipstick smeared all over his chin. “Dinner will be here in an hour. I suggest you find a way to amuse yourselves,” he announced, and then proceeded walking into one of the rooms and kicking the door shut behind them.

Lilly snorted and patted Duke’s shoulder. “The unofficial agenda is that we all do what we want, eat when we can be bothered, and pretend we are normal. Come on, I’ll show you my dungeon.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Shaman King or Yu Gi Oh.
> 
> This chapter comes with a content warning about mental health and capitalism.

The “dungeon” turned out to be more a library than an actual bedroom, stuffed as it was with paperbacks. Books lined the walls, piled on top of one another, and there wasn’t a shelf in sight. 

“Aren’t you worried about leaving Millie and Mokuba alone?” Duke asked. 

“They’re fine.”

“But what if they—”

She pushed him against the door and kissed him, shoving her tongue roughly down his throat. In the living room, there was the sound of a TV going off. A minute or so later, he could hear the teens laughing about which game they were about to play first. 

Lilly pulled back. “This isn’t their first failed attempt at grown-up dinner,” she said, and stepped aside so that he could get his bearings. “Trust me. They’re so used to this by now that they don’t even bother looking surprised.”

Duke glanced at the wall. “So er… all that arguing was… what, extended foreplay?”

“No, Sharona was genuinely trying,” Lilly said, a strange expression settling over her face. “Unfortunately, she really does not have patience for anything in the kitchen. She tries and she tries and every time, she gets mad and gives up. That’s why Sally and Ellie haven’t even come back from work yet.”

Then she shoved him onto the bed and pulled out a harness hidden under her pillow. 

“I’m starting to think you just want me for the sex, mistress,” he said.

“Is that a problem for you?” she asked, straddling him.

“Gods, no.”

“Good. Now keep your mouth shut - just because the others are expecting it doesn’t mean they won’t try to burst in if they hear screams.”

He laughed. Then he marveled at how much more relaxed he felt about the idea of anyone busting in on him, let alone Kaiba. Maybe it was that his lover was exceptional at helping him through his fears, or maybe it was because he was not at his place… Or maybe he was just too horny to care.

For the next forty-five minutes or so, Lilly kissed and touched every inch of his body. Not hurting him, just… worshiping. He managed to keep quiet, up to and including when she took him all the way into her mouth and deep-throated him until he came. 

Then she opened her bedside drawer and pulled out a velvet pouch. “These ones are brand new,” she said, holding out three small, stainless steel items. Even in his post-coital state, his brain instantly recognized them. “I was thinking we could try the smallest one tonight and seeing how you handle it.”

“Are those…” he couldn’t finish the sentence. His stomach dropped a little. “Are we…” They’d talked about working him up to anal but even this seemed little too early in the program.

“Talk to me,” she said, squeezing his thigh. “What’s bothering you?”

Two months ago, if anybody had told Duke he’d be in a position where he would debate whether to even have a sex toy inside of him, let alone wearing it for extended periods of time - he would have laughed hysterically and forever. Now, he actually pondered the question.

“Isn’t wearing a butt plug little hardcore for a dinner date?”

Lilly shrugged. “I doubt we are really going to sit down and eat together,” she said, but her expression became clouded again. “We never do anymore.”

“It’s the first time I’m meeting them, though.” 

“Second.”

“A quick introduction followed by electrocution isn’t the same as shaking hands and making small talk. I'd rather I got to know them without... you know... sex in the background.”

“What do you think Seto and Sharona are doing in her room right now? Playing chess? Debating nuclear physics?”

Duke wasn’t sure what was happening, but he had a feeling that they'd waded into weird territory. The double-entendre, mind-reading territory that he'd hoped he'd left already. 

“I’m calling Strike Ninja for now,” he said.

She untied him immediately, as she had done the first time he’d been unable to continue. But tonight, he wasn’t the one needing aftercare. As soon as his arms were free, he was pulling her down to his chest, stroking her hair as if she were a cat.

“I’m not saying I don't want to,” he whispered. “I just want to make a good first impression.”

Lilly snorted. “You’ll be the only one who puts in the effort.”

***

“—and that’s how I got drafted in sewing gowns for a drag show. I’m actually pretty chuffed.” Ellie took a sip of water, and looked around, seemingly oblivious to how 40% of the table was not in an eating mood. “So, how’s everyone’s week been?”

Then again, she had promised to bust balls, so why was Lilly surprised? She and Sally had arrived back from work almost at the same time as the dinner delivery, and had proceeded to bang on the doors and call everyone out under pain of death.

“What, no-one wants to share?” Sally drawled. “I thought you were going to take over a small country today, Kaiba?”

“If by small country you mean mind-numbing meetings with the city, then yes,” Seto said. He was still immaculately dressed, although his tie was nowhere to be seen. “I took those over. Kind of wish I hadn’t, though. I want my brain cells back.”

“Aren’t you in hearings about the renewal of the Use of Private Buildings for Enterprise Act?” Lilly asked. 

“Yes. Like I said, it’s mind-numbing.”

She snorted. Bryan had been talking about these hearings too. Specifically, he was complaining how night club owners like himself weren’t allowed anywhere near the meetings. “You should be pleased,” Lilly said. “You’re like the last bastion of defense against the Morality Police. The whole kink community will owe you a debt of gratitude.”

“I’m pretty sure the kink community is all over city hall. And I’m not there to advocate for you specifically - I’m there as a representative of the business community.”

Lilly rolled her eyes. Next to her, Duke leaned in. “Sorry, what’s that about?”

“What’s what about?” Kaiba asked. “Mind-numbing city hall meetings?”

“No, this… Act.”

Around the table, everyone but Kaiba winced. Lilly wished - for the umpteenth time - that Duke hadn’t been able to come. 

Not that she didn’t like spending time with him, or that she didn’t want him to meet her friends. Just… this was difficult enough without them all getting political over it. 

“The Use of Private Buildings for Enterprise Act is something the city council reviews every three years or so,” Sharona said, finally. “Basically a fancy way of regulating how business is set up. You’d have had to fill out a declaration for your shop, Duke.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “I had some stuff to fill out to get my license renewed recently. But what’s the police got to do with it?”

“The _ morality _ police,” Lilly said, and took a large swig of wine. Again. “And it’s exactly what it sounds like.”

He was still looking confused. And why would he be - he wasn’t spending his days dealing with the real asshole city officials. His business was family-friendly.

“Stop me if you heard this one,” Ellie interjected from across the table. “Most of the time, regulations pass the local legislature without a peep and get renewed in due course with minimal hearings. However, every time they are up for review, a sub-committee takes a look and offers some improvements to be considered. And since most people don’t know or don’t care…”

“All sorts of dumb shit gets passed,” Lilly said. “Including the current amendment on sex work not being permitted in buildings over a certain square footage.”

“The reasoning being that brothels are still illegal,” Sharona said. “However, the proposal basically means that clubs like the Sword of Damocles will be hit pretty hard.”

“Oh.” Duke seemed to consider that. “But um… brothels are illegal, aren’t they?”

“Yes, and the city has done remarkably well in enforcing the law without driving sex workers in destitution,” Lilly said, feeling uncomfortably hot. “But that’s apparently not good enough and certain committee members want to drive us back underground because the city is becoming dangerous for the children.”

“I still don’t get it.”

“That’s fine, it makes no sense.”

Ellie put her fork and knife down. “City officials are concerned that adult establishments are not self-regulating enough and are exposing young people to corruption. They’re also concerned that vulnerable people might be more easily exploited as sex work is still illegal at federal level, even if locally it’s not being persecuted.”

“Right, because business is soooo great at self-regulating,” Lilly snarked.

“I’m just explaining, Lil, no need to get mad!”

“But um… what if vulnerable people are being exploited?” Duke asked. 

Lilly turned on him, eyes wide. “You’re kidding, right?” she asked, shocked.

He seemed genuinely taken aback. Which only pissed her off more. “I’m just saying—”

“Would you rather vulnerable people be exploited in secret? Is that what you want? For them to get fucked twice over, once by the local government and then by their handlers?”

Silence fell over the table. It wasn’t until she finished talking that she noticed the echo. She’d been yelling.

Kaiba cleared his throat. “Lilian is being needlessly crass, but she is right,” he said, causing Duke to finally tear his eyes away from her. “If adult establishments are out in the open, then they can be inspected and regulated. There’s a slightly better chance that exploitation can be caught. But if they are driven underground, then the people who are the most vulnerable will be made even more so because they can’t even go to the police.”

Duke considered this. “That’s a… pretty liberal view for you to take.”

_ Oh, but you are paying attention to him, _ Lilly thought, feeling surprisingly bitter. 

How had she gone from just having fun to being actively offended at his political opinions? Wasn’t she the one arguing constantly that this was just a fling? Across the table, she met Sharona’s eyes and flinched at the sympathy she saw there. 

Kaiba was still talking.

“—what’s more pragmatic,” he said. “Cost-benefit analysis: would you rather the police spend their resources on the adult industry, or would you rather they spend it on actual policing? I know what I’d like my taxes to go toward.” 

“I get it,” Duke said, sounding exasperated. “I just… it’s not exactly people’s first choice of profession, is it?”

“Yeah,” Lilly said, voice full of venom. “Which is all the more reason why they should be criminalised.” Standing up from the table, she looked around. “I’ve lost my appetite. Can I be excused?”

Sharona nodded once.

She stormed off. 

***

Duke, wisely, waited until she cooled off before he knocked on her door. 

“Lilly?” he called out. “The others are heading out to hunt for dessert. Do you want to go along?” 

She shook her head, ignoring the fact that he couldn’t see her. There was noise from the living room, the sounds of six people putting on shoes and heading out. Then, after a few beats, Duke knocked again. “I’m coming in, okay?”

_ Fuck off. _ She couldn’t bring herself to speak the words, though. 

Footfalls across the floorboards, and then he knelt by the side of the bed. 

“The others said they’ll bring you a lemon tart. Said that’s your favorite, but if you wanted something different, we can text and let them know,” he said. 

Right. Because lemon tarts would fix everything.

“They also said that you won’t speak to me until you’re ready. I thought I might as well sit here so that I don’t miss it.”

“You think that’s funny?”

“I think I fucked something up.”

She stretched herself up and sat on the bed. “Do you think I’m a victim?” she asked. 

He looked at her like she had suddenly started speaking Bulgarian. “Of course not.”

“Then am I evil?”

“Only when you torture me in the bedroom,” he teased, but his smile fell when he noticed her expression. “For real? No. Never. You’re one of the best people I’ve ever met.”

“_ Now _ you are just lying.”

“Lilly, what is this about all of a sudden?” 

“You hate my job.” She snapped, feeling the fury and frustration of the last few months building up and finally spilling. “You think that it’s beneath me; that I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t have alternatives.”

“Don’t read my mind,” Duke said firmly. “I wouldn’t have gone on that date with you if I had a problem with who you are. Hell, Lilly, we just… I wouldn’t have let you do a tenth of the things you’ve done with me if I wasn’t okay with what you do.”

_ You’d be surprised, _ she thought bitterly. So many people paid through the nose for her to beat and humiliate them, yet would not piss on her if she were on fire and they met in their day-to-day work. People who loved her friends and then threw them aside. “My job…” she said, then stopped. “I’m not gonna pretend it’s not selling myself, because it is. And yeah, there was a time in my life when I had no choice but to do that if I wanted to survive.” 

The memory - debtors’ letters, and then, actual monsters showing up at their door, demanding money they did not have - was still too fresh in her mind. She went quiet, trying to sort out whatever feelings she had about it from this moment. 

Things were better now, of course. The debt had been settled, and with minimal inconvenience on her part. Sharona, who had started off as an intern at Kaiba Corp, had finally found a use for her engineering gifts, came up with a crucial component, and made a shit ton of money selling the patent. But for months, Lilly had been the main breadwinner of the group, and she’d been terrified at what would happen if she fucked things up. Regardless of how much she embraced the actual work, that did not take away the anxiety; and it was still following her, months after the fact.

And yeah… maybe seeing one of her best friends getting romantically involved with the guy who had saved them from this mess was grating on her a little. 

And yes - she was taking it out on somebody else. 

“I’m sorry,” Duke was saying. 

“Don’t be sorry. I was lucky. Bryan… Baelfegor, as you know him… he found me, gave me a whip, and then let me do what I’m good at,” Lilly said, forcing a smile. “I’m lucky to live in Domino City now. Other people are not so lucky. I’m not gonna apologize for feeling strongly about legislation that might persecute me and others like me.”

“You’re right,” he said. “I didn’t think this through.”

“You’ve never had to.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “Sorry I snapped.”

“Don’t be.” He touched her hand and squeezed. She finally slid her feet off the bed and let him rest his head in her lap. “You know, your roommates said something else to me before they left?”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“They told me you have no patience for questions that you can Google,” he said. Inhaling slowly, he added. “I haven’t had a very interesting life, all things considered. I know that we’re coming from different places. But I want to learn. If I’m asking stuff, it’s because I genuinely want to know. I promise I’ll do more reading but… please have patience with me. I’m not nearly there yet.”

Lilly caressed his hair. 

“I’m not mad,” she said. “Not at you, anyway. It’s just that the world is full of so much shit, Duke… it gets to you at one point.”

“Yeah. I can see that,” he said. “Is there anything I can do for you now?”

Lilly sighed. “I’m not in a playing mood anymore, I’m afraid,” she said.

“Then let me put you in a better mood. It’s only fair.”

“I don’t do angry sex.” It was too easy to lose herself in that. Too easy to let go of some of the _ other _ sides of her personality, too. Whips didn’t scare him but ghosts and the supernatural were a different ball game of their own. 

Duke rose on his knees and slid his hands up her thighs and under her skirt. “Lilly…” he whispered in her ear. “Mistress. I would very much like you to have angry sex with me. Please?”

Her nostrils flared. “Let go of me.” She had to warn him. She couldn’t not warn him.

He kissed the corner of her mouth.

He dared kiss the corner of her mouth.

Without her permission.

And, from the look in his eyes, she could tell it was deliberate. He knew _ exactly _ what this would do, and fuck, she didn’t have a safe word of her own with him.

Not that she needed one. 

“You want angry sex?” Her hand shot out, grabbing him by the throat. “You haven’t fucking earned that, Devlin.”

His eyes brightened. “Then let me earn it, Mistress.”

She didn’t do BDSM when she was angry, no. 

She could, however, play act anger pretty well.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Say it with me, one more time:
> 
> I don't own Yu Gi Oh or Shaman King. 
> 
> I own a muse with a knack for keeping me up at night.
> 
> Please enjoy as the plot appears again -.-
> 
> This chapter comes with a content warning for Emotional and Sexual Blackmail.

“I’m going to take these off. And then I’ll rub a bit of ointment into your skin. Stay still.”

Duke didn’t have the energy to do more than nod. 

This week had been the roughest one yet - not sex wise, although, yeah, that had hurt - but the promo for his company had also entered a crucial stage. Industrial Illusions were planning a launch in less than a month in Kaiba Land, using their new tech, and his game was going to be the main attraction. Naturally, all sorts of problems were coming out of the woodwork, and all of them demanded his immediate attention.

Having Lilly march him into the bedroom, lashing him to his bed, and then whipping him until he literally couldn’t tell up from down had been… absolutely beautiful.

“Can’t I keep the ropes on?” he asked as she undid the knots. 

“We have to take care of your skin,” she said. 

He hummed contentedly and followed her instructions, laying down on his front and letting her have her way with him.

Except, she hadn’t had her way with him, had she? He had no way to check but he was pretty sure she hadn’t gotten off tonight at all. In fact, ever since he had met her friends over for dinner, he felt like something was off about them.

“Don’t worry about me,” she said, when he brought it up. “I’m on my period.”

“Oh.” He paused to consider that. “I can still—”

“Devlin, if you don’t lay there and take it, I’m going to withhold orgasms from you for a week,” she ordered, then proceeded to rub Vitamin K into his back with practiced, gentle motions. 

It was all part of the play, he reminded himself. They were in a scene, even if the pain portion of the evening was finished. She was doing what she had done every week since they’d met - she was looking after him. 

Which was why he could tell something was upsetting her. Despite the mind-boggling amount of sex they’d had, he’d learned about her as much as she’d learned about him.

He could tell if she was in a playful mood, a teaching mood, a fucking mood. He could sense the changes in the tone of her voice and the way she touched him that indicated whether a night would be harder or gentler. He could sense the pride, too, whenever he did something that pleased her. He’d learned to seek out that pride as much as he sought physical release.

Carefully moving one hand, he removed the blindfold from his eyes and looked at her as best as he could. She’d straddled his hips, the fabric of her jeans rubbing against his skin in a way similar to the rope. She hadn’t even taken her bra off.

“You seem a million miles away,” he said. Shifting experimentally, he rose up on his elbows, then turned, careful not to ruin her hard work. Lilly followed his movements, waiting until he was sat in bed and allowing him to sit her back on his lap. Taking her right hand into his, he kissed the back, then each one of her fingers. Her breath hitched as he moved to her palm and then her wrist. 

“Don’t remember that particular fetish from your list,” she said quietly.

He moved his lips to the crook of her elbow. “Haven’t I earned some exploration time, ma’am?” he asked, giving her his most innocent look. 

“I suppose so,” Lilly said, as he kissed a path all the way up to her shoulder and her neck. He waited, his lips an inch from hers, when she suggested, “My other hand is feeling a little neglected.”

Maybe he could tease her into a round two. Or maybe he could just hold her and kiss every inch of her skin for the rest of the night. Either option seemed pretty okay in his books. There was a sigh, and then, miracle of miracles, she relaxed against him. 

For a while, they just sat like this - her face pressed against the crook of his neck, his fingers sliding through her hair. Then, he cleared his throat. “So um… play aside, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”

Lilly sat back to look at him. “Should I be worried?” 

“No,” Duke said. “Well… I suppose it matters on what your definition is of a fun night out.”

“This is one of them,” she replied instantly, flicking his nipple with the tips of her fingers. 

“I like that, too.” He caught her wrist gently. “Might I, however, interest you in an experiment? If it pleases you, of course.”

“You want to play doctor, Devlin?”

“That idea does have some merit, but no.” There was a chance he was over-thinking this. But now he was just procrastinating. He took a steadying breath, just like she taught him, and then said, “Would you like to join me for the launch of my game?”

“I thought you launched that ages ago,” she said. “Did you design a new one?”

He wanted to smack himself up the head. It was so easy sometimes to forget not everyone’s lives revolved around playing Dungeons, Dice, and Monsters. “I did launch it, but the immersing version will have its debut in Kaiba’s amusement park in four weeks,” Duke said. “Your friend’s been working on the tech that will make that happen. That’s how I met her in the first place.”

“Oh, right.” Something passed through her expression again, and he had the sudden urge to comfort her. Why? No idea. But he did. “I tend to tune Sharona out when she talks about work.”

“You don’t really need to play,” he said quickly. “There will be lots of good food and music, and if we’re lucky, they might even turn the dancefloor into a fantasyland using the VR technology.”

“Now that’s starting to ring a bell.” 

Duke waited for Lilly to say no outright. She did not. 

“I would really like it if you could join me,” he said. “As my date.” 

“You know, I’m not exactly what you might call sophisticated arm candy.” Lilly reached up to push her glasses up her nose, only to find them gone. She really _ was _ distracted by something. “I don’t even know what I would wear.”

“Maybe you and Sharona can go shopping?” Duke suggested. “Kaiba will be there, which probably means she will be joining him. So you won’t even be alone.” 

The mention of Kaiba made her twist her lips again.

Then something occurred to him and he _ really _ wanted to smack himself up the head. “You’re not… worried you might run into a client there, are you?”

“If I did, I would pretend not to know them,” she said. “Plus, I very rarely do home visits anymore. Most the stuff I do is from the phone or in the club.” 

“Then…?”

Lilly furrowed her brow. “I’m not that good at keeping my thoughts to myself,” she said, finally. “If I run into someone I don’t like, I’ll probably tell them so. And I won’t be able to hold my tongue if someone pisses me off. That’s hardly going to bring the investors flocking.”

“I can small talk for the both of us.” 

“Liar.”

“Okay, fine, I can only small talk for myself,” Duke admitted. “But I would feel infinitely calmer if you were with me. You… make me feel safe. And after, we can let off all of the steam by doing something truly deprived.”

She pursed her lips. Then she grinned wide.

“Depraved, huh? I think I’m starting to warm up to this.”

He could feel the dampness through the seat of her jeans, and that was certainly not her period. “I can do a few more things to sweeten the deal up for you. If I may, please.”

It seemed to him, as they tumbled laughing into the bed, that his life was charmed. 

***

He assumed the first Cosmopolitan was a mistake. Duke didn’t have any direct neighbors but still, mail got mixed up. These things happened. He posted it back into the mail with return to sender scribbled across the envelope. 

The second one came a few days later. No envelope, no address tag. 

Duke frowned. Were the publishers doing some kind of promotion? In that case, they weren’t going to find new readers at his place.

He recycled the magazine without looking twice.

The third one arrived at the shop. There was a sticker to the top. _ Read me. _

Was this Lilly’s latest idea of torture? Because he didn’t remember them ever discussing it. Duke tucked the magazine in his messenger bag and focused on his customers. The ramping pressure around the launch was getting to him. If she was in a playing mood, he would play - he welcomed ALL play at this point.

The shop was the busiest it had been for weeks, though, and he didn’t even remember the magazine before he got home that evening. 

_ Gods, at this rate, I’ll be dead before the event even happens, _ he thought, rummaging through the fridge. There were leftovers. And then more leftovers. And… yep, even more leftovers.

Delicious leftovers, though. He picked some pasta with spinach and mushrooms and heated it as he studied his emails. The smell of the food - and the memory of Lilly making it the last time she was over - reminded him of the magazine, and he went to find his messenger bag.

He held the magazine, with its stickered instruction and innocuous headlines, and thought of how things changed. When his mother was still reading this stuff, it was full of salacious material and dubious lingerie ads. Now, the sex tips were replaced by articles on feminism that would probably make Lilly laugh hysterically. Why she used it as a prop in a scene, he had no idea, but he was willing to find out.

Then he started flicking through the magazine and his good mood evaporated.

By the time his microwave went off, he’d lost appetite for food entirely, and was scrambling for his phone.

***

Lilly climbed the stairs to Duke’s flat, cursing Domino city’s mobile net, cab drivers, and her own shitty schedule. The sun was starting to come out, she was still wearing combat boots and a leather minidress, and, if the 50 missed calls were any indication, her lover had spent the night in panic mode and she was just learning it.

_ Why the fuck didn’t anybody tell me my phone was ringing off the hook? _

But why would they? She’d been on house calls all night. If anybody had heard her phone, they’d assume she would not want to be disturbed.

The door was unlocked. Duke was sitting on his couch, laptop on the coffee table in front of him, hand covering his mouth. His eyes - as he raised them to meet hers - were wide and terrified.

Lilly didn’t ask what the problem was. She just dropped her bag on the floor and went to him, opening her arms. He buried his face in her stomach and trembled as she held him tight.

“Shh, it’s okay,” she said, rocking them back and forth. “I’m here.”

“You have no idea what’s happened.” His voice was muffled, but the anguish was unmistakable.

“Whatever it is, I’m here.” On habit, she ignored the computer, focusing on the man in front of her. It wasn’t the most important thing anyway. Right?

Duke didn’t speak for a long time. His fingers dug into her hips as he held her close. She ran her fingers through his hair again, disconcerted by how eerie and quiet everything felt. 

“It’s over,” he muttered, finally. “I’m over.”

“What’s over?” she asked, then, when he shook his head, she tried again. “Duke. Tell me what happened.”

He pulled away and had her sit. She noticed - as he was reviving his laptop - that there was a magazine open on his table. Someone had slapped stickers across the ads, all the better to spell out their messages. 

_ I play by RACK rules, _ said one.

_ I’m too hot for my own good, please flog me, _ said another.

_ Now take off my panties, _ said a third.

The last one was an address for an online data repository. A repository which Duke was bringing up now. There were three audio files uploaded with the caption: _ Just a little taste 1-3. _

“I received the first magazine at the start of the week,” Duke said. “I didn’t think much of it, but then two more showed up and…”

“Just play it,” Lilly replied, taking his hand and squeezing it.

She knew what it was before he even hit the button to start the first recording. She’d been there, after all. She recognized her voice as she instructed him on how to eat her out, then his voice when they’d moved to the fucking portion of the program. She’d spoken his name - not slave, or pet, or boyo, or any other random endearment - and he’d screamed her name out as he’d come. She’d enjoyed that part of their second day immensely.

But listening to it played back - on some anonymous folder online, with its cheeky title - made her feel physically sick.

The audio cut off before they’d moved to any cuddling and aftercare, but not before a distorted voice cut in, telling them that they would be Internet sensations very soon. Then it was over, and all she could see was their distorted faces, reflected in Duke’s laptop screen.

It took her a few goes to get her voice to work. “Did they include any instructions?”

“No,” he said, weakly. His voice was croaky and when she looked at his eyes, she realized how bloodshot they were. He must have been crying before she’d arrived. 

She couldn’t blame him. She felt like crying herself. 

“I’ve been through the magazine a dozen times,” he said. “I even went through my trash to find the other one, before I remembered I’d taken out my recycling.”

“This can be fixed,” she said, firmly. “Let me call my boss. We can…”

“No.”

She took his face in her hands and forced him to look at her. “Duke. Listen to me. This isn’t the sort of thing you want to do on your own. The club…”

“I’m not a member of the club,” he said, voice dead. “Your boss can’t protect me. This…” he gestured “…I was afraid someone was trying to steal trade secrets from me. I guess they got blackmail material instead.”

“Which is all the more reason not to give into any demands they make,” Lilly said. “It’s never just one thing, or just one payment with blackmailers. They will bleed you dry for all its worth. Please, Duke. We need to tell someone about this. Make an official complaint”

He shook his head.

She gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to order him around. This wasn’t how to do it. “I’m sorry,” she said, squeezing his hands. “How can I help then?”

“I don’t know,” he said, voice hollow. “I… when I realized what this was, I couldn’t think. All I could do was call and call and call. I knew you were probably on a job but I couldn’t think of anybody else.”

“Your friends…”

He shook his head no.

No, of course not. He’d never even introduced her to them. As far as any of them knew, she was just a girl who had been to his flat once and that was it. 

“What else is on there?” she asked.

Duke produced a pair of headphones. “Here,” he said, plugging them in. “I’ve listened to this enough times already.”

She cringed as she listened to a very clear rendition of them going through his checklist - including information on where it had come from and the fact that he’d attended orientation at the Sword of Damocles. At the time, it had been a mere negotiation. But her voice sounded so detached, so clinical… so inhuman.

The third file contained one of her samples of dirty talk, and it was spectacularly rude. She’d been pretty proud of how she’d managed to get him off without actually touching him then, and now… now, in audio, it just sounded detached and pornographic. 

Lilly closed her eyes, counting breaths as she took out the headphones. “What can I do?” she repeated.

He pulled her close to him and just held her. “I don’t think there is anything we can do,” he said, sadly. “I… the only thing I can think of is preempting the demand, cutting ties with Industrial Illusions, and that’s it.”

“No,” she said. “Absolutely not.”

“You said it yourself, with blackmailers you are never safe. The surest thing is for me to make myself into an unattractive target.”

The problem was, they may not have been just after money. Lilly thought about what Duke had said to her the first night they were together. Somebody had been strong-arming all his devices before she was even in the picture. That wasn’t just a lucky hacker cashing in on a mark - it screamed of premeditation. Which meant that even if Duke gave them every penny he had, it may still not be enough. 

“Please tell me what I can do.”

He sighed. “I think… I think I want you to go home,” he said, lowering his eyes. “I think… it was a mistake to call you.”

The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on her.

Unfortunately, neither was the hurt.

“Okay.” She squeezed his hand, then stood up. “I’ll go.”

“Lilly…” He stopped her as she was picking up her bag. She turned, heart in her throat, but all he did was open his closet and pull a jacket out from inside. “Here,” Duke slipped it over her shoulders. “It’s cold.”

And he didn’t want his neighbors to get a good look at her, either.

She nodded and hugged him. “Yeah, it is,” she said, hiding her face from him. “Thank you.”

***

But she did not go home.

She considered it - if there was ever a time to get on the couch and drink herself stupid, it was now - but instead, her feet carried her straight into the club, past the bouncers and the play winding up, and straight on her desk. 

Her phone had no dial, nor buttons. It was meant to ring, never to be rung from, a special little concession, just for her. But that didn’t mean Lilly didn’t know how to use it.

Picking up the receiver, she hit the button behind it several times, activating a feature only people over 50 still seemed to use. “Operator? Hi, please connect me to the following number—”

There was a certain benefit to being who she was. It was time to cash in.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Yu Gi Oh or Shaman King.
> 
> Content warning for blackmail in this chapter.

He considered opening his shop the next morning, but couldn’t bring himself to. What was the point? He couldn’t keep his head in selling mode and his customers deserved better than to have him snapping at them every two seconds.

And yet, when he hung up the “Closed due to staff sickness” sign, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit ashamed.

Five years of work, and he’d never taken a day off sick. There seemed to be something perverse in having to do it like this, Duke thought as he returned to his flat and slid to the floor. _ Five years. _ He’d bled for this company, and the first time he’d allowed himself something other than work, and this happened. 

Pegasus received his call with surprise. 

“A meeting?” his mentor echoed. “Well, we have one scheduled next week anyway. Can it wait until then?”

Duke stared ahead of him. “I don’t know. I…” he couldn’t bring himself to speak the words. “I’m not sure what the timeline is for this.”

“Well, unfortunately I have to fly out and deal with something urgently in Tokyo. So I’m afraid it will just have to wait. Unless you want to tell me over the phone?”

Where to start? _ Someone recorded me while I was subbing and is now using the footage to threaten me _ wasn’t the sort of thing you broke to anybody like this. He had to face his mentor. At the very least, he had to take that humiliation on the chin. Even if it killed him.

“No, sir. You’re right.” He inhaled and exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry for bothering you. I’ll keep our regular meeting if that’s okay.”

“Are you okay?” a note of concern crept into the older man’s voice. “You’re not working yourself too hard again, are you? Please tell me you didn’t mess things up with that nice girl you got set up with - it’s been so long since I’ve seen you smile.”

Duke winced and curled in on himself. “I’m fine, sir. I’ll speak to you soon.”

At least Lilly wasn’t there to see him looking so pathetic. At least he did the right thing to send her home.

***

“How fucking hard is it to get a list of suppliers?” she groused, pacing Bryan’s day office. “It should have been done by now.”

“my contact has to make a proper request to the building management company,” her boss said. “Try to be a little kinder to the man. He’s working as fast as possible.”

Lilly growled and flopped down on a chair. “_ I would have been finished by now. _”

“Yes, my Luddite Mistress, but you’re banned from touching the computers.” There was a pause, then he asked, “If I gave you permission to think out loud, would that help settle you?”

“You’re not my dominant. You don’t give me permission to do anything.” 

“I’m also not your bitch.” He tapped a few keys on his computer, then said, “Come on, Lilith. Just let it out. I haven’t seen you this agitated since before you started working here, and I can’t imagine this is any more fun for you.”

“My sub is being blackmailed, of course it’s not fun for me!” She threw her hands up and then ran them through her hair in exasperation. “Christ, what do you take me for?”

Bryan sighed. “At least that’s a starting point,” he muttered. “So. Theories. I know you have them. You’ve been calling every favor you could think of so far to chase them. Maybe talking it through with me would help clarify things.” 

Lilly rocked back in her seat. Usually, theorizing was something she did around the girls, but for once, she didn’t want to bring Sharona and the others into this. If shit hit the fan - and with every passing moment, the likelihood of that increased - then she wanted them to be as far away from it as possible.

“Money’s the easy one,” she said, finally. “But I don’t believe that’s the case.”

“He’s got his own company,” Bryan pointed out. “And he works with Industrial Illusions.”

“Yeah, but he’s not big yet. It would have made sense if it was Kaiba or someone else who was on the stock market, but Duke’s company isn’t there yet.” She felt, momentarily, bad about discussing this with her boss. Especially since Duke had told her he didn’t want her to. But Lilly was short on options at this point. “In a few weeks, maybe. But right now, any blackmail material is worth at least ten times less what it would have if they’d just waited.”

“Family money?”

“He used his trust fund to seed Dungeons, Dice and Monsters. His parents told him they wouldn’t give him a penny until they saw a return.” 

“Fair enough. Jealous lovers?”

“I haven’t got any.” 

“You sure about that? Weren’t you telling me a few months ago that your friends’ ex was giving you hell?”

“Yeah. _ Us _ being the operative word.” She glared. “Anyway, it turned out to be a ruse. Somebody was trying to hurt him through my friend.”

“And you’re sure they were done?”

_ I don’t know, a head in a box was pretty definitive as far as statements went. _ “Let’s just say he wasn’t pleased when he found out.” Anyway, if the Red Crimson Clan wanted to try something again, after the last fiasco, they wouldn’t be using Cosmo magazine to deliver their messages.

“Let us agree to disagree,” Bryan said. “What of Duke’s lovers?”

“Not the type. And, if his own self-assessment is correct, they wouldn’t have needed to dig for dirt,” Lilly crossed her arms. “Even if they did, there would be the same problem as with the money. They can try to squeeze him dry, but his net worth is not that great.”

“Which leaves us with the last option,” Bryan said. “Somebody is using him as a stepping stone to hurt someone else. Possibly his mentor, since that’s the biggest fish he swims with.”

“Hence why I’ve been doing phone calls.” On cue, she received a message. Nearly tearing her pockets open in her haste, she felt her stomach sink when she saw it was another text from Duke. _ New taster added to the folder, _ it said. _ It has your name in it. I’m sorry. _

She closed her eyes and counted to ten. _ What’s the subject? _ she wrote back.

The reply came after a good ten minutes. _ Us. Talking about Serenity and Tristan. _

So it was more from their second day together. She frowned, but all she did was send him an apologetic message. 

It pissed her off. She didn’t want to apologize. She wanted to kick ass.

“What I don’t understand,” she said, “Is why Duke? He has better than average protections on his devices. Surely if someone was going after Industrial Illusions, they would be able to find a less tech-savvy employee.”

“Maybe he has access to something big,” Bryan said. “Or maybe it’s not Industrial Illusions after all.” 

“What do you mean?” 

He turned his screen so that she could see the article he was reading. Coverage of the ongoing hearings about the uses of buildings for enterprise act. Someone had written a preachy by-line about how the city was just trying to look after its young people, and the local gaming community ought to weigh in on that more.

“Duke’s not on that committee,” Lilly said.

“But somebody is targeting him - a game shop owner - with some pretty personal specific stuff. And not just stuff from his sexual past, Lilly,” he added, when she opened his mouth to argue. “You said it yourself, there is plenty he is embarrassed about, but they are targeting him through his relationship with you. Funny how that works.”

“You think they want to make an example of him.”

Bryan shrugged. “It’s hard to tell with blackmailers, of course,” he said. “But if it was just humiliation they were going after, they wouldn’t have given him a heads up. They would have gone for the kill and popped the pop corn.”

He was right, damn it. And it made sense. Lilly could just imagine someone like Kaiba and their reaction to seeing someone they knew be lambasted for his sexuality. For all her comments about his kinks, Lilly knew he was an intensely private person. He might consider voting for the motion as a low-stakes pay off, and others would follow in his lead.

Except it wouldn’t be just the one motion. Whomever was doing this would do it again and again. That was the nature of blackmail - once you found a pliable mark, you bled them dry. 

Bryan looked at his screen. “Our contact in city hall just got back. No major works have been carried out at your boy’s premises lately.”

Lilly sank in her seat. 

Now was probably a good time to give her friends a heads up. Except that would put them in a whole new terrible position. Sally might start packing her bags without comment, but the others liked their new life. They were proud of it, and why wouldn’t they be? It was legit and hard-earned. They deserved every nice thing that had happened to them in the last nine months. 

_ Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, _ she thought, blinking away the tears. She hated feeling helpless. 

“What is it, sweetie?” Bryan walked around the desk and knelt at her feet. “Talk to me.”

“I’m scared,” she admitted. “I hated that Duke didn’t want to tell, but here I am, in exactly the same position.”

“No catastrophizing,” he ordered, and she rubbed the heel of her hand against her eyes. “What do you know about these recordings? Let’s start from square one.”

“Not much. So far, they’re all from one day.” They were probably saving the truly salacious materials for later, Lilly thought. Certainly, they would want to keep any recordings they’d taken from the bedroom for the official launch.

Unless…

“Oh. I see a spark.” Bryan grinned. “What is it?”

“The recordings were all from the living room,” she said, slowly. “And they seem to be pretty uneven quality.”

“Maybe they didn’t do a good job of bugging the apartment.”

“Maybe.” She stood up and walked to the phone. “Or maybe they were only able to plant a single, very specific bug.” 

Memories flooded her head. Loud banging on the door. Annoyed male voices shouting from the corridor. _ We know she’s in here, you goddamn pervert! _

“Hey,” she said before the clerk at the university could speak. “I need you to look someone up for me.”

***

Was it possible to experience a hangover without having had a drink? Because he was pretty sure this had just happened.

As soon as Lilly had texted to tell him she was sorry, Duke had pretty much decided to crawl into bed and die. Except he couldn’t even look at his bed without thinking of all the ways in which she’d made him scream… all the ways he’d begged for her to make him scream. 

The floor was more comfortable.

Duke rose off his makeshift pallet, feeling nauseated. The pounding in his head intensified as he thought, derisively, that at least now he wasn’t lying about being sick.

Then he realized that the pounding was coming from his door.

Staggering through the hallway, his tired brain only registered a woman’s figure standing in the fire escape. “Lilly, I told you, I don’t want—” his breath caught as opened the door. “Oh. Shoot. Serenity, hi.”

“Oh, my God!” she gasped, eyes widening. “Duke, what’s happened?”

He forced a smile and shook his head, even if the motion made him want to spew. “Just a bit ill. You might not want to stand near me too much.” 

“I saw… there was a sign at your shop door.” She looked down. She was holding a jute grocery bag, twisting it and untwisting the handle in her hands. “I thought I might bring you some soup.”

Duke was about to say he had all the food he wanted, when he realized something was wrong. Serenity wasn’t the sort to just drop in. The one time she had, she’d locked herself out and lost her phone. Bringing food for a sick friend because you saw a sign on their door was something people did for each other, but not like this. Not when their relationship was so tenuous.

“Serenity,” he muttered. “Is something wrong?”

She nearly tore the handle in half. When she looked up, her eyes were full of tears. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I just... I’m so sorry!”

***

Joey’s sister had started sobbing pretty quickly, but instead of jumping in for hugs or any physical comforting, Duke had ushered her into the kitchen and started preparing a hot chocolate the way Lilly had shown him. There were a million steps - heating the milk in the saucepan, letting it cool, whisking the lot, and topping it off with enough cream and marshmallows to induce a cavity - but by the time he was done, both he and Serenity was far more composed. 

“Here we go,” he announced, serving. “Hope you don’t mind, I only had white cocoa powder.”

“I don’t think I can drink all of,” she sniffled and her lower lip started to wobble again. 

“I can’t make you,” Duke said. “But Serenity, you look like you’ve had a massive shock. And you’ve been crying since you walked through the door. Won’t you at least try a few sips for me?”

Another sniffle. She reached for the cup but drew her hand back immediately. “It’s very hot,” she whispered.

“Okay. Fair enough.” It occurred to him, suddenly, that he was treating her the same way Lilly treated him after a hard scene. And she definitely looked like she needed aftercare. But what from? 

“Do you want me to call Tristan for you?” he asked. “Or Joey?”

“No! Please, no!” She grabbed onto his wrist, nearly breaking it in her vehemence. 

“Okay, I got you.” Duke wracked his brain, trying to find the right questions, the right tactic. “Want me to get one of the girls then? I think Tea has dance practice tonight, but I’m sure I can get Mai here pretty quickly.”

“No. I… I can’t talk to them about this.” She lowered her eyes as the tears started to fall again.

Duke ran his hand through his hair and, though his knees protested the whole way there, he knelt in front of her. “Okay. You want to keep the others out of this,” he said. “But Serenity, they are your closest friends. Joey is your brother. I’m not going to force you to tell me what’s wrong, but I’m really worried about you.”

“You’ll hate me,” she muttered. “When you learn what I’ve done.”

“I’m sure I won’t, angel.” 

Instead of reassuring her, the words made her cry harder. Duke winced, wondering if hugging her would be more comforting or upsetting. Clearly, he wasn’t as good at this as he thought he was. 

“This is all my fault,” she choked out. “Oh Duke, I’m so sorry. This is my fault.”

“I don’t understand, Serenity. What is…”

“The blackmail,” she gasped. “It’s all my fault.”

If she went and slapped him across the face, he wouldn’t have been more shocked. It was a good thing he was already kneeling - from there, it was a short way for him to fall back. 

Sitting on the kitchen floor, the cold seeping through his legs, all he could do was stare for a good minute. Then, when Serenity’s sobs subsided, he said, “I’m sorry, I think I misheard you.”

Serenity clenched her fists so tight, he knuckles turned white. She seemed to gather her courage up, and then started to talk. “I got the first email two months ago,” she said in a dead voice. “Someone had gotten into my phone.”

Duke listened, horrified, as she relayed the list of demands she’d received - first to send a small sum of money, then progressively larger ones. Within a week, they’d named a price she could not pay. Within ten days, they’d offered her an alternative - start sending them explicit images of herself, or plant her phone in Duke’s home for a week. 

“I honestly thought you forgot…” he muttered. “I mean… I remember finding your phone and bringing it back to you but… it was with you that morning? And it was on all the time?”

“My case has a built-in battery,” she said, face crumpling. “And I had it on power saving mode.”

He buried his face in his hands. 

He wanted to believe this was a horrible joke - his friends, trying to pull a very poorly-timed prank. But in a way, all of it made a horrible sort of sense. Someone had tried to hack into his devices shortly before he went on his first date with Lilly, too. He’d assumed they’d give up eventually, but hadn’t thought that maybe they’d try to do the same with his friends. It was pretty easy to find out who he hung out with on social media - from there, it would have been a simple matter of strong-arming their way into their phones and using whatever they found inside as leverage. 

“Duke? Please say something.” She slid off the chair and knelt by him. “I’m sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am.”

“I don’t get it,” he muttered. The information was making his head spin. “What on Earth would they have found against you of all people?”

Her cheeks became crimson with shame. A very familiar kind of shame. “Tristan and I… we don’t hang out together as much as we want,” she said. “And I wanted to feel closer to him so much.”

Duke didn’t make her elaborate and she seemed glad not to. Seeing her start to shiver, he helped her back up and pushed the now-cold chocolate into her hands. What was there to say? She was in exactly the same boat as him - exploring her body and her sexuality, and having that used against her. 

_ Turns out Lilly was right after all. _

The memory - and when that conversation had taken place - made him suddenly queasy. “Serenity,” he managed. “Have you actually listened to what your phone recorded?”

“A little.” She turned an even deeper red. “I… I stashed it near your couch, but it picked up a lot from inside your bedroom.”

“Oh, God!” he slumped against the table. “Oh, God.”

“I’m sorry. This is my fault. I tried to get money while the phone was here. But he didn’t want it anymore.”

“He?” Duke looked up. “You know who did this?”

She nodded. “He came to take my phone himself. Said he wouldn’t risk having anything sent online until he was ready. I never met him, though. I told Lilly what he looked like and she—”

“Lilly?” He straightened up, suddenly full of energy. “You spoke to _ Lilly _ about this?”

Serenity nodded. She seemed… suddenly a lot calmer. She’d stopped crying and her voice evened out. “She came by my dorm earlier tonight. She told me that… she didn’t know my relationship with you, but she could not imagine that I would do something like that maliciously.” 

“That sounds like something she might say,” Duke muttered. “What… what did she do, when you described the guy.”

“Nothing.” Serenity shuddered visibly.

“Listen to me,” he said, voice hard. “If she hurt you.”

“She didn’t lay a finger on me,” Serenity said. “She’s just… she’s just really scary, Duke.” 

She could be. Duke had always assumed she would never turn that side of her personality onto an innocent, though. He’d always thought her vows of non-maleficence were unbreakable. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to snap. What happened? How did you get her to leave?”

“She left by herself,” Serenity said. “She thanked me for being honest with her and… and that she knew what she had to do. Then she—” the girl bit her lip, as if struggling to hold it together again “—she told me that if I wanted to tell you this myself, tonight was my chance.”

Duke’s heart dropped in his stomach as he took in the implications of that.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Shaman King or Yu Gi Oh.
> 
> Content Warning for this chapter: Blackmail, torture, internalised misogyny.

The study screamed old money: from the heavy desk, to the dusty bookshelves, it was 1% functionality and 99% for show. In another life, it was the sort of place she might have imagined building for herself. A quiet refuge in a leafy suburb, far away from the hustle and bustle of the world. 

Now, as she watched her target get settled in with his laptop, all she could think was how rococo was ruined for her. 

Lilly waited until the ghosts gave her definitive proof - the man, unlocking Serenity’s phone and checking the library. She watched his face through their eyes, waiting to see a glimpse of remorse or sadness or even disgust. Any emotion would have been useful. But no - his face remained as placid as if he were reading the financial forecasts. 

Sighing, she closed her eyes once. Briefly. 

_ Never again. _ Lilly laughed bitterly, adjusting her gloves. _ Never say never. _

Then she called her powers forward.

Inside the house, Kail frowned as all the lights started flickering in and out. He reached for the house phone, barking orders for security to see what the Hell was going on. There were sounds of the guard huffing and puffing, followed by a warning that he was about to restart the system. The library plunged into darkness.

Then, when the lights came on, the phone lay back in its cradle, the laptop was booted up, and Kail was lying face down on the floor, unable to move anything other than his eyeballs.

“You know, you should be nicer to your staff.”

He tried to struggle, but all he managed was a feeble whimper at the back of his throat. 

Lilly walked around him, keeping out of his line of sight, before rifling through his pockets for Serenity’s phone.

“They work really hard,” she said. “Your security especially. How old is he now? Sixty one? Sixty two? Good golly, friend, he should be retiring, not running around like some errand boy.”

Kail shuddered and attempted to scream again. Nothing above a squeak came from his mouth.

“Here’s a pro tip for you,” she said. “Silent alarms. Far more effective in bringing in the cavalry and a bit more challenging for a person who is trying to do you harm. All those video cameras on your parameter might as well be stone angels, for all the good they do you.”

She started to stand when another violent shudder went through him. Peering over, she noticed his face turning purple.

_ Idiot. _ Sighing, she reached out to the spirits and ordered them to relax the victim’s jaw for her. 

“Whomever you are,” Kail wheezed, “I can pay you off. I can give you money beyond your wildest dreams.”

“Charming.” She reversed her order. As he kept trying to shout at her, she put her foot and rolled him over until he was staring up at her. His eyes widened as recognition set in.

_ You’re one of the best people I’ve ever met. _ She remembered Duke saying that. She remembered wishing in that moment, more than anything, that he was right.

_ But I’m not. And it’s better that I’m not. _

“Did you know people wear their sins close to their skin, Kail?” Lilly asked as she unlocked Serenity’s phone and checked the logs. “Most of the time, it’s small stuff - shoplifting in kindergarten, or maybe telling your mom you hated her. Others are a bit graver - actual harm or larceny - and those people love to break down on my floor. And then there are people like you—”

He started to scream again. 

But he couldn’t form the words. Not with the ghosts that were pinning him in place.

He couldn’t see them yet, but that didn’t matter. She could, now that she knew what to look for. And they looked terrifying. 

“Blackmailers are always fascinating,” Lilly said, voice deepening. “You are responsible for the worst depravities in the world, and yet you manage to sleep like babies. Do you get off on the pain you inflict or is it out of some misguided sense of justice that you do this?”

Kail gave her a disgusted look.

She relaxed her hold on him again. Waited.

“You are fucked,” he spat. “I’ve uploaded your little friend’s videos to every porn site imaginable. And your audios will be leaked too, if I don’t enter a very specific password in my computer within the next five minutes.”

Lilly threw her head back and laughed heartily.

“Oh, wonderful.” She perched on top of the desk. “Let’s wait and see together then.”

He took a deep breath and started to scream. Really scream. 

It was impressive, really. 

She crossed her legs and picked her nails. Twenty seconds passed. Thirty. At the forty-five mark, his voice started to grow hoarse. Just before a minute had passed, he slumped on the floor, gasping.

“I have you immobilized,” she said. “What makes you think that I haven’t done the same with your security?”

“You won’t get away with this,” he wheezed, glaring at her. “Those videos will leak. And I will have the police chasing you till the end of the Earth.”

“What makes you think I’ll let you get to the police?”

Kail froze. “My father would look for me,” he squeaked. “He’s not going to let this go. You can’t just disappear me.”

“Your father, yes.” She picked up the other object she’d pulled from his pocket. “Nice touch with the fake ID. Very professional. Problem is, the addresses of council people are in the public domain. And pictures, too. It’s not exactly rocket science to track you down once you get the hang of it. Tell me, did Daddy also pay for your journalism degree, or did you get that all by yourself?”

No answer. She grinned.

“Wanna know the time?” 

“Fuck you.”

“I’ll tell you anyway. We’ve been sat here for fifteen minutes. And you didn’t enter any special commands into your computer all day. Of course, you may not be lying about the codes,” her grin got wider, “but I sincerely doubt it.”

“What the fuck do you know? You’re not even on social media!”

“And why do you think that is?”

Kail watched as she hopped off the desk and sat at his laptop, settling in the antique armchair as if it were a throne. Without asking him, she unlocked the screen and then started typing rapidly. The silence grew heavier the faster her fingers flew across the keyboard.

“No webcam or mic,” she commented. “Almost like somebody is afraid of what might happen if this machine got hacked.”

“I have a right to publish this story,” Kail said, changing tack. “It’s in the interest of public safety.”

“I’m guessing this is your first time, so let me make this easy for you - you’re not in a position to negotiate.” She waved her hand and the ghosts clamped his mouth shut. She also allowed more power to flow into them, making them more visible. 

She knew without looking when Kail recognized what was holding him down. “Not looking too good, are they? Death isn’t always very kind.” She tapped away, feeling herself get lost in the rhythm of the code flying across the screen. 

Really, she ought to thank him. Not only had he given her a chance to play after so many years, but he’d even pre-loaded the computer with the newest toys. So many years of just reading about this. So many nights spent jotting code on pieces of paper, not knowing if she would ever get to use it. Life worked out beautifully sometimes. 

“Right,” Lilly announced, hitting a few final keys. She stood and walked over to Kail, who was whimpering and shaking on the carpet, pinned down under the weight of half a dozen ghosts. She snapped her fingers and held up Serenity’s phone in front of his eyes. “I’ll be taking this with me. You will not try to recover it. Your little blackmail games end tonight. Understood?”

“Fuck you. There will be no place you will hide from me,” he spat.

Lilly sighed. Then she made the ghosts a little more corporeal. 

The one holding his head down was another pretty young girl. Younger than Serenity, certainly. She seemed to relish squeezing his windpipe until he started to wheeze. Lilly held up a hand, halting her before he passed out.

“You have two options right now,” Lilly said. “Number one - I call the police. Now, admittedly, you can lie to them, but they are starting to take cyber crime pretty seriously these days. Did you make sure all the people you were blackmailing were legal adults? From that expression of yours, I’m guessing you didn’t.”

“What… number two…?” He couldn’t even form the words, he was this shaken up with fear.

“Number two is you take your chances with me,” Lilly said, eyes gleaming. “But be very careful. You may find my justice worse than any human prison.”

He laughed, wheezing. “Do… your worst?” Kail sneered. “You have no idea… what will happen to you.”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about me, boy,” Lilly said, removing her glasses and letting the full weight of her stare crush him. “I’ve been taking care of myself for a long, long time.”

***

When he used to fantasize about having Serenity Wheeler staying at his place, he didn’t think it would be under such horrible circumstances.

_ Be careful what you wish for. _ Duke sighed and slowly slid down the wall until his ass hit the floor. 

She’d fallen asleep at dawn. After crying herself into an exhaustion and working herself into a panic and then crying again, over and over until he thought he might be going mad. There was no comforting her. He wasn’t even sure how he was holding himself together for both their sakes.

He waited a few more minutes then dialed. “Tea? Hi.”

“Duke?” Yugi’s girlfriend sounded exhausted. “What’s wrong? Why are you calling me at this hour?”

“I need your help.” He swallowed thickly. How much could he say without betraying Serenity’s trust? How much of her and Tristan’s trust was about to become violated, if he didn’t act immediately? “Joey’s sister showed up at my place. She’s really upset.”

“Serenity?” There was noise, as though Tea was trying to get out of bed. “Oh, my God, Duke, why didn’t you call me sooner?”

He looked down. He was clearly never gonna get this right. “I only just managed to convince her it was a good idea,” he lied. “She’s asleep now, but… she didn’t look too good, Tea.”

“What happened?”

There was a soft rap on the door.

Two taps. Only two.

Duke scrambled up to his knees, the surge of adrenalin waking him like a slap. 

Lilly stood outside, dressed in a running jacket and shorts. Her eyes were bruised and her skin looked sicklier than he’d ever seen it.

“Duke?” Tea’s voice rang from his phone. “Duke, what’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you,” he said, not looking away from Lilly. “She… look, Tea, she needs a friend right now. How soon can you get here?” 

“I’m calling a cab and then I’m ringing back, okay?” she shouted.

Duke was grabbing his keys before she even hung up, following his lover outside. “Lilly—” he didn’t even know what to say. Where could he start? “Serenity is here.”

“This won’t take long,” she said. As if time was the main concern. “Did she tell you what happened?”

In excruciating detail. “She’s been sobbing and apologizing all night.” His voice sounded harsh, even to his ears. “She only just drifted off.”

Lilly nodded, face carefully blank.

“Why didn’t you come with her?” he asked. “Where the hell did you go?” _ I needed you. I was terrified and alone and you weren’t there. _ He wanted to shout the words - scream them for anybody to hear. 

“That discussion was between the two of you,” she said, finally. Then she dug through her pocket and produced a phone in a chunky, lavender case. 

Duke’s breath caught.

He knew that phone.

In fact, he’d handed it over to Serenity less than seven weeks ago himself, after finding it in his living room. “You… what… how?”

“I have my ways.” 

Her ways. “Like the way you scared Serenity?” His whole body started to shake - from shock, from exhaustion, from relief, he didn’t know. “Goddamn it, Lilly, how did you even figure this out? How did you get this? And why didn’t you tell me in the first place?”

“You’re overwrought.” Lilly straightened her spine, visibly steeling herself. “I’ll come back when you’ve had enough sleep.”

He grabbed her elbow before he could think twice of it.

Lilly’s expression turned from quiet patience to pain in seconds. She clenched her jaw but couldn’t stop a small sound of pain escaping. He released her, instantly contrite - only to crush her to his chest as though she’d just been brought back from the dead. “Damn it, Lilly…” he choked out. “Don’t do this to me.”

“Go home.” Her voice was muffled against his chest. Her arm - the one he hadn’t grabbed onto - shoved him back. Up close, he could see more injuries on her - ugly bruises on her neck and arms wherever her clothes moved. As though she had been in a fight weeks ago and was still healing. “I will talk to you later. I just didn’t want your friend to go another day thinking her secret wasn’t safe.”

“Is it safe though?” he whispered. He had no idea how Lilly had realized what had happened, or how she’d gotten the phone back.

“I took my time deleting the files off the phone, and off the Internet.” She gave a small smile. “And trust me on this: he will not be able to hurt anybody anytime soon.”

Duke stared at her, emotions filling him to the brim. Shock. Anger. Disbelief.

But most powerful of all was the fear.

Fear of what might have been. Fear of what had nearly happened. And fear of how easily it could happen again.

“Who appointed you judge, jury and executioner?” he asked, voice cutting. “Why the hell did you not call somebody to help?”

“What? Like you were?” 

The second the words left her mouth, he knew he’d pushed her too far.

He knew and he went on. “Did you hurt him?”

“Are you kidding? Yes, I hurt him! And you know what?” Lilly’s eyes gleamed as her expression turned vicious. “I would do it again.”

“How can you be so—”

“So what? So cruel? So mean? So lacking in compassion?” She let out a cold laugh. “Have you even met me, Duke?”

That wasn’t her. That couldn’t be her. “You are—”

“—one of the best people you know? Get a grip.” Her hands balled into fists. “I am exactly has hateful as you think I am. But I’d rather be hateful than to let the anybody walk all over me again, or harm someone I care for.” She pushed Serenity’s phone in his hands. “Here. Take this to your friend. Have her delete the recordings herself, so that she knows the last traces are gone from the world.”

“Lilly… what have you done?” Duke asked. 

He couldn’t imagine her harming someone. Hurting - yes. She could hurt people like no one else. But harm? Even if it was a blackmailer—

But the look she gave him told him everything. She’d harmed. And she wasn’t sorry for it. 

“Why?” he asked.

“The same reason you wouldn’t ask for help.” She pulled her jacket closer to herself. He couldn’t bring himself to hold her again. “You were willing to take the fall before you let your friends be hurt.”

“That’s not the same thing as vigilantism, damn it. It’s not even in the same universe!”

She chuckled. “No. I suppose it isn’t.” 

His phone rang. Tea was nearly there.

“Take care of your friends,” Lilly said, stepping back and toward the stairs. “They need you now.”

Duke inhaled sharply. “Wait.”

He didn’t expect her to do as told. But she did halt - she stood there, waiting to see. Waiting for him to speak. 

“Serenity will want to thank you,” he said, finally. 

Lilly sighed and pushed her glasses up her nose. The lenses, reflecting the light, hid her eyes perfectly from him. “She owes me nothing,” she said. “She’s lucky she is your friend, otherwise, she might have gone down the path of that guy’s other victims.”

“Bullshit.”

“Think what you want.” Lilly shrugged. “But there was more than one innocent life I was protecting tonight. Go home, Duke. Be a hero.” She sneered. “At least this time, you won’t have to look far for a villain.”

***

Everything hurt.

No. That wasn’t a good enough descriptor.

Everything hurt, stung, burned, and itched. And it was just the beginning. Lilly managed to run the last few blocks on sheer willpower alone - choosing to push her body’s physical limits over having a fit in the back of an Uber. Her building never made her feel more happy. No matter how much time she spent at the club these days, it wasn’t a place to go when you needed to recover.

“Lilly!” 

The ghosts chanted her name as she climbed the stairs. The door flung open before she even had her keys out, and four pairs of hands were reaching out to stop her from collapsing on the floor.

_ This is my place, _ she thought, looking at the faces swimming above her. _ This is home. _


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Shaman King or Yu Gi Oh.
> 
> This chapter comes with a content warning for emotional abuse and blackmail, and some physical violence.

“…she alive?”

“Just sleeping…”

“…attacked?”

Her friends’ voices floated around her, light as air. Or maybe it was ghosts? Was she a ghost? She wasn’t even sure anymore.

Wasn’t there something she had to do?

Nevermind. It couldn’t be important.

She was in-between.

She didn’t go in-between with no reason.

Not anymore anyway.

***

Lilly sweat and ached through the next twenty-four hours, alternating between semi-conscious fugue and blessed sleep. The day after that, things started to fall more into place - she could tell when she was awake, for example, and she knew there were people around her at all times. Nobody prodded her and forced tubes down her throat, either, so she had to surmise it was the friends there and not any medical professionals.

The evening of the second day, she managed to sit up and eat something before passing out again. She was vaguely aware that her friends looked annoyed with her.

“Sorry I’m keeping you from work…” she murmured as Sharona flitted around her.

“It’s the weekend,” the blonde said, lips pursed.

“Sorry for ruining your weekend then.”

There was a heavy sigh, followed by footsteps. “Scoot,” Sharona said. She threw her a death glare, but did as told, making just enough room for her friend to sit down so that Lilly could rest her head on her thigh. “You are an idiot, Lilly Ward,” Sharona said.

“Can’t argue with that.” Sighing, she tried to piece together some coherent thoughts. “I take it the ghosts have been talking.”

“You came home shaking from blow-back,” Sharona said. “Damn straight they’d be talking. Jangurian is lucky he is cute.”

Lilly looked around the room. Unsurprisingly, her guardian spirit was nowhere to be found. Knowing him, he was probably huddled under a pillow somewhere, still thinking it was alive and had to hide from bad, bad people.

Poor thing. 

“Don’t worry,” Sharona said, sensing her thoughts. “Millie is comforting him right now. For what it’s worth, I think he’s more upset about you than he was about the questioning.”

“I’m fine.”

“You most certainly are not, otherwise you would have thought twice about attacking a councilman’s son.” Her friend sighed. “Damn it, Lilly, have you any idea what could have happened?”

“Did the police come?” she asked. “Am I going back to jail?”

Pause. “No. We sent Onibi and Enra Enra on a scouting mission. Far as they could tell, nobody has seen you on the premises, and the only witness is uncooperative. Understandably so.”

Lilly pursed her lips. “I gave him the option of handing himself in. He chose my way.”

“I don’t think he fully understood what your way entailed. Hell, I don’t think you fully understand what _ your way _ entails.”

“He was blackmailing young girls and boys. I let him feel the pain of his victims,” Lilly said. Her body started to curl in on itself more, shoulders hunching, knees raising up. “He ought to be lucky I just let them into his head and didn’t allow them to use his body.” 

“I’m not saying that he wasn’t reprehensible.” Sharona caressed her hair.

“But you think I ought to have let the police handle it, right? Human justice for human crimes?”

Her friend was quiet for a long time. Lilly forced herself to look up.

“I wish you told us,” Sharona said, finally. “I wish you gave us a chance to help.”

“You? Or Saint Seto?” She didn’t mean for the words to come out so bitter. But that was the thing about her powers - Lilly could not use them to their full potential without suffering consequences. The shivers and the shakes were the better outcome. 

“Goodness, I didn’t know I was dating a martyr,” Sharona said, voice deceptively light. “Why didn’t you tell me he could do miracles?”

Lilly snorted. Unfortunately, there was no stopping the verbal diarrhea once it started. “You know what I’m talking about,” she whispered, shivering. “We were our only family. We fought together, ran together… we were ready to die together, too. We would have gone to the end of this world and the next for each other.”

“We are family,” Sharona said. “Does that mean we have to stay the same as we were at eighteen? Or twelve?”

“I like change!” She did. She loved change. She wanted to change all the time - morph and morph until she was, at last, happy in her skin. 

“But you don’t like it when somebody new comes along?”

Lilly blinked away the tears. “We fought so hard,” she sniffed. “I know there’s people who have it harder than us, damn it. I met some last night. But it was hard for us too. And there were times I was genuinely scared of what might happen.” So many nights, wondering if there would be a monster waiting by the door. So many days waiting for their past to come knocking again. She wasn’t naive enough to think they could outrun it, but she wasn’t interested in speeding up the process either. “And then some guy comes along and snaps his fingers and solves our problems and suddenly we act like the sun is shining out of his ass. It pisses me off.”

She snapped her mouth shut. 

Silence stretched. 

Mortification set in.

Sharona just kept stroking her hair. “There you go,” she said, as Lilly burst into tears. “Was that so hard?”

“Goddamn it, quit goading me on!” she sobbed, burying her face in her skirt. “I fucking hate it when you do that!”

Her friend just shushed her and held her tight.

“You were always better than any of us at putting up a front,” she asked, when Lilly’s shoulders had finally stopped shaking. “But it was difficult for you, wasn’t it?”

The words nearly set her off again. Nearly. “It’s not that I’m not grateful or glad,” she murmured. “Or that I hate Seto. Or that I think he… you…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it. It sounded like a betrayal of everything she believed in.

When Sharona started speaking next, it was measured and thoughtful. “We went, in the span of a year, from being three million into debt to financial solvency,” she said. “Coincidentally, I also started dating a rich guy. We are, for the first time in forever, free to choose what we do with our lives. It’s hard not to let some _ old scripts _ return.”

Lilly sniffed. “I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop,” she said. “And look. There it went.”

“Duke isn’t some kind of karmic blow-back, Lil.”

“Isn’t he though? He came out of nowhere—” 

“He met you twice before you went on a date.”

“—acted like the very idea of me was offensive to him, and then all of a sudden his shields dropped and bam! He’s adventurous, and kind, and generous, respects his boundaries and my own… literally, everything I ever wanted.” Her eyes started to well up and she dashed at the tears furiously. “Except when push came to shove, he wouldn’t even accept my help. He was angrier about how I dealt with the _ blackmailer _ than he was about what had been done to him.”

“Being someone’s living dream is a pretty big responsibility,” Sharona said.

Lilly pushed herself up on her elbows. “You think I’m overreacting?”

“You’re suffering through blow-back the likes of which I haven’t seen in years,” Sharona pointed out. “For all I know you are under-reacting.”

“Shar—”

The blonde squeezed her shoulder. “Duke can be wonderful and still react badly to stuff,” she pointed out. “He’d just spent a night caring for a traumatized friend, while trying to deal with his own fear for the future. He was wrong to yell at you, but if you are going to judge him for being an asshole, at least give him a chance to be an asshole when he has had a chance to sleep and eat.”

Lilly looked down, letting her hair fall over her shoulder. “It’s been forty-eight hours already,” she said. “And he hasn’t called.”

“Whereas you have been just bursting with energy and enthusiasm for human contact.”

Point after point after point, and they all hit home.

“Damn it,” she muttered. “I’ll have to talk to him, won’t I?”

“Try to look at things in perspective,” Sharona said. “At least he didn’t bring a house down on you.”

***

“You fucking pervert.”

The punch landed before Duke could even brace for it. And yet, as he lay sprawled on his own floor, he couldn’t help but think Lilly had a stronger hook. 

“Hello, Tristan,” he said, wiping some blood from his lip. Looking up at his friend, he tried to muster up some dignity. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Shut up!” Then he immediately contradicted himself by pulling Duke up by his collar and demanding to know what he’d done to Serenity. 

“Why does everybody keep asking me about that? I didn’t do anything.” He’d thought Serenity’s reticence to call anybody was because of the blackmail. Turned out, it was because there was no such thing as a secret in this group - Tea had taken her home to rest and had immediately told Yugi about it. Yugi had called Devlin to demand what had happened, seemingly convinced that the only reason Joey’s little sister would go to Duke and cry was because he, Duke, had done something to her. 

And even after Duke had defended both his honor and Serenity’s, Yugi and Tea had told the rest of the group.

It was probably lucky Tristan had gotten here first and Joey.

Then another punch landed and he changed his mind.

He’d rather take his chances with Joey.

“For fuck’s sake, Tristan,” he yelled. “Did any of you assholes ask Serenity about this before coming to hit me?”

Tristan pulled out his phone from his pocket and held it out in front of him. “She told me someone was using her to blackmail you.” He shoved Duke against the wall. “That they got into her phone and somehow got dirt on _ you _. How the hell did that happen?”

Duke closed his eyes briefly, swearing in his head. 

“Let me guess - you immediately ran out without letting her explain?”

“Fuck you, dickhead.”

“No. Fuck you.” He broke Tristan’s hold and shoved him back. “You don’t get to come into my home and accuse me when you didn’t even hear your own girlfriend out.”

Tristan narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. But he didn’t throw a punch. No, he did something much worse.

“What the hell, man? I thought we could trust you.” He looked genuinely hurt when he said that. “Didn’t you have a girlfriend, too? How could you do that to her?”

Did he have a girlfriend? That question had swarmed his mind the whole weekend, in between tension headaches and nauseating moments of fear whenever he heard a phone ring or an email notification come in. Yes, he and Lilly had dated. And yes, the two had been intimate in ways which Duke hadn’t even imagined were possible.

But that hadn’t been his girlfriend at the door that Saturday morning.

In her place had stood a living nightmare. A creature that walked like her, talked like her, even smelled like her… but who was not Lilly. He had no idea what had happened, but he’d gotten flashbacks from witnessing Mai’s duel with Marik Ishtar. Even the promise that the blackmail was over could not help him shake the fear.

On cue, Tristan’s phone started to ring. Even from where he stood, Duke could see Serenity’s picture. “Pick up,” he said, staring the other man down. “Come on.”

With another furious look, the other man complied. “Hey. I’m at Duke’s place. No, he hasn’t told me yet. Serenity, just stay home… No, I don’t want you to come here.”

She said something that made Tristan’s face fall. Then, suddenly contrite, he promised he’d meet her at the curb and walk her up. “This better be good,” he muttered, but the bite was gone from his voice. For a second, he actually looked worse than Duke felt.

***

“Right, so, let me see if I get this straight.” Tristan looked between his girlfriend and his friend. “Some rando got into your phone and blackmailed you into planting it here, as a listening device, so that he could then blackmail Duke… and then Duke’s girlfriend just went out and got it back?” 

Serenity crossed her arms. “What are you suggesting? Why would we lie about this?”

She seemed to have aged ten years in the last few days - her expression had grown harder and there was a new anger in her eyes that was distinctly different from her younger years.

Or maybe, Duke decided, that was how she really looked like, and he was finally seeing her as the adult she was, instead of the child she had been.

Tristan seemed as taken aback by this change as he had. “It’s just all a bit too convenient,” he muttered. “I mean, did either of you even check Lilly’s story? Did she tell you who this guy was?”

“She said he wasn’t going to bother us anymore,” Duke replied. “And for my part, I’m willing to believe her.”

“This chick came out of nowhere and your problems started,” Tristan said. “Then she went ahead and solved them too. I don’t wanna call either of you liars, so what that tells me is that she must be involved somehow.”

Before Duke could say anything, Serenity beat him to it. “That’s enough already. Lilly didn’t have anything to do with this, Tristan,” she snapped, then, much to their chagrin, her eyes started to fill up. “She was much kinder to me than I deserved. And she gave me a chance to come clean and apologize. I won’t have you disrespecting her in that way.”

“Just because someone is nice doesn’t mean they have your best interests in mind,” Tristan said, digging his heels in. “How many times have our own friends turned out to be possessed, or minions to some weird Duel Monsters cult that Yugi had to defeat? I’m being realistic here.”

Duke cringed, thinking what Lilly had said - that she’d harmed the blackmailer, that she’d made sure he wouldn’t hurt anybody again, that she wasn’t sorry. Suddenly, all he could think of was all the monsters in human form he had seen in just the last few years. Maybe Tristan was right. Maybe he was being naive.

But he couldn’t get out the last thing she’d thrown at him before leaving. _ There was more than one innocent life I was protecting tonight. _

Lilly had had him at her mercy dozens of times, physically and emotionally. She could have destroyed him with a word or a touch at any point. And, if she were even half as powerful as some of the foes Yugi had faced in time, she would have been able to overwhelm him without resorting to tricks or coercion. The notion that she would be party to some blackmail scheme was laughable on these grounds alone. The fact that Lilly never pushed him where he didn’t want to go, sexually or otherwise, just cemented things in his mind. 

She’d never betray his trust. 

Tristan didn’t know that, because Tristan had no fucking idea what his relationship with Lilly was like. 

Duke felt his stomach drop as he realized what would end this argument once and for all. 

“Serenity,” he said. “Did you delete the recordings off your phone?”

She blanched. “No, I…” she hesitated. “I still don’t know whether not going to the police was a good idea. I thought maybe I should keep them for now.”

And re-traumatizing herself with the inquiry and trial? Not on his watch. 

Duke opened one of his kitchen cabinets and threw Tristan a pair of spare headphones. “Here,” he said. “Go listen to what Serenity was asked to record. Call me a liar all you want after that, if you can look me in the eye.” 

***

Eavesdroppers never heard good things about themselves.

Lilly didn’t mind that so much - what difference did it make if someone slagged her off if she got valuable information to protect her friends and her? - but for the sake of maintaining her own peace of mind, she only used Jangurian to spy on people in extreme circumstances.

Seeing Serenity and Tristan rushing into Duke’s home as she was working up the nerve to go there herself counted as extreme circumstance in her book. At the very least, she needed intel before she burst in full ghost mode again, ready to kick ass and take names.

She knew eavesdroppers never heard good things about themselves.

She never knew that not-hearing anything could hurt just as much.

Lilly breathed slowly through her nose and exhaled through her mouth - as she would if she were tied to a St Andrew’s Cross, taking a punishment. It certainly felt like torture, to watch Tristan call her an accomplice and Duke not to answer. To have Serenity - the girl she’d barely held back from eviscerating three nights ago - be the only one to defend her honor.

That hurt. She was vile, and hateful, but it still hurt. 

“Enough,” she whispered, when Duke threw his headphones at Tristan. She didn’t need to watch him break down or justify himself, or rationalize away their relationship to his friends. Her guardian spirit settled itself in the palm of her hand and gave her a sad squeak. 

It had liked him.

Well. She’d liked him too.

“Let’s just go home,” Lilly said. Sharona and the girls would call her a coward later, but that was fine. 

What was one more thing to live with?

*

“I’m sorry,” Serenity said, sitting across the table from him. “I honestly tried to explain but he wouldn’t listen.”

Duke shook his head. “It’s my own fault. I should have brought Lilly around ages ago.” If the others had met her, if they actually saw them interact, it wouldn’t have come to this - sitting in his kitchen, waiting for Tristan to listen through an illegal recording of their most intimate moments. Every now and again, they could hear Tristan swear loudly and stomp around the living room. 

A distraction would have been nice. “Did you… have you any idea what happened to the man threatening you?”

“You haven’t seen the news?”

In all honesty, he’d pulled his phone apart to avoid the temptation of going online. Now, at Serenity’s urging, he reassembled it and went online. Duke assumed there might be a byline that she wanted him to look at. Instead, on the front page of every local newspaper, there were titles like: ** Councilman caught in sex scandal ** and ** Not-so-anonymous revelations ** and ** Journalist son unavailable for comment **.

“This is…” Duke started, eyes widening. “I know this guy.”

“He said he knew you, too,” Serenity sighed. “Turns out he knew quite a lot of people.”

Duke shook his head and read the most recent article.

_ New developments in the scandal that broke over the weekend, as police searched the home of councilman Townsworth following an emergency order from the local courts. The enquiry was fast-tracked after information was sent to all local precincts and newspapers that the councilman was involved in criminal activities in cyberspace. _

_Our readers will know that this publication was one of the recipients of the tip, which appeared to come from the councilman’s own son, Kail. Due to the sensitive nature of the material, we handed it over to the authorities instead of publishing it here. The veracity of the evidence is yet to be confirmed, but the Domino courts have seen fit to hold the councilman into custody for seventy-two hours. _

_Rumors have been circulating as to the nature of the charges. Explicit parallels appear to be drawn between the allegations and the suspected whistle-blower checking himself into a local mental hospital. However, as of right now, all details of the case are confidential. _

“I don’t believe it,” Duke muttered, staring at the pictures of Baby-Face… Kail, and his father, wondering how he’d missed the obvious resemblance. “And Lilly got his guy to have a change of heart?”

“She seems like the kind of person who knows what she is doing.” Next door, Tristan started swearing again, louder and with more vigor. Serenity sighed. “He must have gotten to the point where you two started talking about us, I think.”

Duke thought he might die. “You listened that far?” He was going to have to move after this. No, worse. He was going to have to move, change his identity, possibly take up a role in accounting or construction. Anything but face his friends after this. 

Serenity nodded. Mercifully, she seemed sympathetic. “Kail, he… he told me a few times he was going to make me the star of the Internet if I didn’t do as he told me.” Her hands squeezed into fists. “He made me so angry, like my relationship was just there for his amusement. Like I was something he could use. And he kept on saying maybe Lilly and I could collaborate.”

“He’s lucky he’s in a hospital already,” Duke said. If Tristan didn’t put him there, he and Joey certainly would. “Serenity, I—”

“Let me finish.” She met his eyes. “You’re nothing like him, Duke. You’re a good friend. And on those recordings…” a blush crept up her cheeks “…you sounded happy. I’m glad you found someone who makes you feel this way.”

Tristan stumbled into the room. He slid the headphones across the table at Duke, not looking up, and handed Serenity her phone back. “I think you should delete everything,” he muttered. “Reset to factory mode or something. Just… don’t give anybody a chance to hear this stuff again.”

“Tristan—”

“Shut up, Devlin.” His friend took several shallow breaths, as if trying to work up the courage to speak next. “I’m still mad at you for not telling me, and I—” he stopped, gritted his teeth “—I want to kick your ass so fucking bad over this shit. But…”

There was a long pause. Nobody dared move - they hardly dared to breathe. Tristan kept grinding his jaw and clenching his fists, before he worked up the nerve and met Duke’s eyes. 

“I’m not into that. Any of that,” he said. “But context matters and… I can tell that it was just dirty talk during sex. I’m not gonna hang with you or your girlfriend anytime soon, but it’s obvious from the audio that she was egging you on and you were defending us. This stuff was meant to stay private, and… I’m sorry someone tried to hurt you with that.”

Duke nodded. “Thank you for understanding.”

“Serenity, please… please just delete everything,” Tristan said, then added. “And I’m sorry for yelling. You… you didn’t deserve it. Please forgive me.”

From the look in her eyes, she’d forgiven him already. Duke looked around, suddenly feeling like a third wheel in his own home.

“Devlin,” Tristan went on. “I don’t know your Lilly very well. I’m not sure whether I need to apologize to her or ask her if she’s off her rocker.”

“That’s fair,” Duke replied. “I’m not sure which she needs to hear, either.”

“Maybe if we met her as a group, that’ll make things easier.” There was a scrape of a chair and Serenity stood up. “She’ll be at your launch in a couple of weeks, right, Duke? Perhaps we can have a proper conversation then?”

The idea of leaving the flat at all - especially for an event that pertained to him - made Duke want to vomit. 

But he was standing his ground and he was not apologizing for his sexuality. And his friends were not shunning him. The weirdness was in the specifics, not the whole.

He inhaled slowly, then released. “Maybe.”

“Duke,” Serenity said. “I know I shouldn’t comment but… you sounded really relaxed and happy when you were with her. I hope you and Lilly work things out.”

“How do you know we are fighting?” he asked, a little sharper than he intended.

Tristan rolled his eyes. “Dude. She’s not here.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Yu Gi Oh or Shaman King.

A couple of days later, he walked to the Sword of Damocles, his heart in his throat.

He didn’t know why he couldn’t just call her phone - after all, the polite thing to do was let her know he was coming. But all Duke could think of was how she’d looked when she’d left him that night. Angry, vicious… hurt. 

_ She tries and she tries and every time, she gets mad and gives up._

_It’s just that the world is full of so much shit._

_I’d rather be hateful than to let the anybody walk all over me again. _

Duke hadn’t been able to process everything that had happened that morning. Not at the time. But he did know several people who harbored a mystery inside of them - Yugi, Marik, Bakura - and all three of them had given him that same creepy feeling as Lilly did. 

If she was suffering, she had to know there was a solution. Maybe not permanently, but he could introduce her to people who knew what it was like.

“Evening,” he told Allison, who was at the coat check. “I’m looking for L… for Mistress Lilith. Is she available?”

“One moment, please,” she said, curtsying quickly. Was it him or did she give him the stink eye as she disappeared behind the coats? Well, he supposed that this wasn’t surprising.

One minute passed, then three, eight, thirteen. Duke kept rocking back and forth on his feet, looking around and feeling more and more like a schoolboy with each passing moment. 

Where _ was _ she? What was going on?

_ Stay cool. They make the patrons leave their phones at the coat check - she must do the same. Allison can’t just ring her or call her on an intercom, after all. _

Then Duke’s stomach dropped. What if she was with a client? What if he was made to stand in front of some room, listening to her work while waiting admittance? 

His suspicions were confirmed when Allison reappeared and bade him to follow her to the back of the building. They climbed what felt like a million stairs before walking past a row of windows, looking into a room covered in desks and computers.

“Is this the… er…”

“This is where we do the work that is not face-to-face,” Allison explained. She pointed at a desk with only a phone in it. “This one is usually Lilith’s.”

“Total Luddite, even here,” Duke muttered, more to himself than anybody else.

“Is that what she told you?” a voice said, right in his ear. He whirled around and found a grinning Baelfegor looking down at him.

No.

Not Baelfegor. He had another name. A normal name, and he was a normal guy. Duke wasn’t going to sit there and act impressed, especially when the reigning king of the S&M scene had shown up wearing a button down and slacks. 

“I’m not here to see you,” Duke said. 

“No, you’re here for your Mistress.” The other man grinned and looked past his shoulder. “That’ll be all, Allison, my dear.”

There was a beat or two during which Duke was confused. Then a few pieces clicked into place - moving him out of the lobby, taking him through an unfamiliar path, and bringing him into what looked like an abandoned part of the building… “Is this an ambush or just another mind game?” Duke asked. 

“Does it have to be either?” _ Bryan _ asked, then turned on his heel and beckoned him to follow. “Come. We can talk more freely in my office.”

He was about to say no, but then reconsidered. 

He really did not know this place. And he did not want to stumble into a private dungeon. Not now, not ever.

“Where’s Lilly?” he asked, reverting to her given name as they made their way through the corridors and into a tastefully decorated room. 

“Taking some time off,” Bryan said, taking a seat behind a large desk. “Surely she’s told you she doesn’t play when she is angry.”

She _ had _ mentioned something to that effect, the night he’d spent at her place. She’d then proceeded to pin him down by the neck and ride him until she came screaming. _ If that wasn’t angry sex, what the hell was she going through now? _ “Did she send herself home?”

“Nope. Had to physically put her in a taxi and then send her a formal letter. Have you any idea how annoying those are?” Bryan groaned, the most put-upon dom in the world. “I work with adults, goddamn it. I don’t _ want _ to treat my employees like children.”

“Not a fan of age play?”

“Only when it’s consensual.”

Duke swallowed. He ought to leave. If she wasn’t here, then he had no business at the Sword of Damocles. He would have to see her at her place… which mean having to face her roommates… possibly Kaiba too. 

“I’ve gotta say, I’ve never seen someone look this white with fear when I haven’t laid a hand on them,” Lilly’s boss remarked. “Might I surmise you were hoping to have a more low-key confrontation here?”

“How do you know we would have a confrontation?”

“If her job was giving her problems, then I would have known about it.” Bryan spread his arms out wide. “And, boyo? In all the years she’s worked here, I’ve never seen her not being able to leave her own problems at the door.”

He swallowed. “I came to apologize.”

“Then go to her home. Shall I call you a cab?”

Duke didn’t move. He wanted to, but he couldn’t. Bryan nodded once, twice. “Thought there was more to it than a lover’s tiff.”

“I don’t know why I’m here,” the younger man admitted. “I’m not trying to ambush her at work. I just… I mean, do you know what she did?”

“Oh yes. I helped her. Ah, you look surprised.” Bryan tsked. “I take it she didn’t get to that little tidbit.”

“I asked her not to tell anybody!”

“Someone was trying to blackmail you,” he pointed out. “Even if you wanted to keep things quiet, she has some pretty high-profile clients. A threat on her is a threat on them - she had to tell me. And, from the sounds of it, she was right to.”

Duke thought he might be sick. Collapsing into a chair, he cradled his head in his hands. “She told me she was protecting more than one life,” he muttered. “I thought she meant me and my friends…”

“She most likely did. But I doubt the list ended there.”

Silence pressed down, heavy and recriminating. It felt like their first fight, except a million times more vicious. “I was so weirded out by her job at first,” he muttered. “But I convinced myself it had nothing to do with our relationship.”

“Well, at least you are 50% honest with yourself. Can’t say that about a lot of people I meet.” 

Duke shook his head. He needed a full minute before he looked at Bryan again. “You must think I’m a monster,” he said. “To sleep with her but judge what she does for a living.”

“Not a monster, no. You’re not that special.” His voice was neutral, and still the comment leveled Duke where he stood. “I am sorry, though. It must be painful, being scared all the time.”

Scared? He was here to help Lilly, not to be psychoanalysed by her boss.

Or was he? 

Why couldn’t he just call her, instead of venture in here and risk a confrontation just like this one? 

“If you’ve seen the things I have, you’d be scared too,” Duke said. Ghosts, monsters, inter-dimensional rifts… he’d been to that party several times now, and he hated it more with every single passing instance. 

“I’m not in the business of hosting the Pain Olympics,” Bryan replied. His grin was self-deprecating. “Not your brand, anyway.”

“Then what do you do? If you don’t mind me asking?” 

He didn’t expect an honest reply. He was honestly trying to buy some time, get his head together, and leave. But Lilly’s boss pondered his answer for a long while - enough for Duke to become curious to hear it. 

“People come here to learn. Some want to explore their limits and desires. Others are just curious. There are bad actors, of course, as there are bad actors in gaming and in sales. Most of the time, though, people play together because it brings them pleasure.” He gave Duke a pointed look. “Unfortunately, there are many who think that they can shit on us because what we do is kink. That’s not true. But it takes a while to correct them in their thinking.”

“Does correcting their thinking involve exposing their secrets and putting them in the mental hospital?”

There was another lengthy pause. “Is it the method that bothers you? Or the fact that she did it in the first place?”

Both. Neither. Honestly, Duke was surprised Bryan even asked him. 

Lilly’s boss uncurled himself from the chair and unlocked the safe in his wall. From within, he withdrew a yellow folder and placed it on the desk.

“What’s this?” Duke asked.

“The real reason you’re here,” Bryan asked. “What I’m most curious, of course, is whether you have the guts to look inside.”

***

Lilly came home to an empty apartment and a small package with her name on it. There was a long moment when she just stood there, trying to remember what the hell she might have ordered and not remembered.

Then she noticed the return address and groaned.

“I should just return it to sender,” she muttered under her breath, but Jangurian chose that moment to appear on top of the parcel and give her a glare.

Why did she choose a Roborovski hamster for her guardian spirit? She must have had some notions about them being good, non-judgmental companions. It was just her luck that hers was a pain in her ass. 

“You think I should have kept watching,” she said, as she started tearing the paper. “That Duke was going to surprise me. Let me tell you something, buddy, you have a lot to learn about human relations.”

Jangurian just kept glaring at her. 

She turned her attention to the red velvet pouch she pulled out of the parcel - trimmed with black and emblazoned proudly with the maker’s logo, it was so beautiful she had to take a moment and just stare at it. Then, holding her breath, she undid the ribbon and pulled the collar from inside.

Her guardian spirit sniffed at it, and then gave her another grumpy look.

“I just didn’t want to ruin his necklaces,” she said, then shook her head. She was justifying herself to a mouse. A fucking mouse.

In truth, she’d started off looking for a training collar - they were very useful for scenes, and a well made one would leave fewer marks than, for example, a chain being yanked a little too hard. A couple of times during sex, Lilly had accidentally broken the clasp on Duke’s pendants, and while he hadn’t seemed to mind, she’d felt like giving him something to wear instead was a good idea.

Then she’d started thinking about how nice it would be if he could wear it as part of his ensemble, and had found a maker who took custom orders. The collar she held had a black and red check, the same as his favorite head- and wrist-bands. It also had a hidden clasp and was exactly big enough to sit around his neck comfortably without restricting his breathing.

“It was just a nice gesture,” Lilly muttered. “It’s a good thing we broke up before I gave this to him.”

_ Except, you didn’t really break up, did you? He submitted to you, he met your friends, he invited you to attend functions with him, but he never indicated he wanted more. And you never brought up that you wanted more. _

She gritted her teeth, taking the returns form to fill it out. But her eyes kept wandering to the collar, lingering for longer periods of time, until she gave in and picked it up again. 

“It’s beautiful work,” she told Jangurian, as the spirit settled itself on her shoulder. “The threads have been wound together instead of glued, and the clasp would have ensured minimal friction. He could have worn this for days without thinking twice about it. And people would have assumed it was just another part of his outfit.”

Her voice echoed through the empty apartment. Lilly swallowed past the lump in her throat.

“I know it was a stupid thing to buy,” she went on. “Especially when it’s such early days.”

Jangurian nudged her hand with his muzzle. Lilly stroked him absentmindedly.

“If anything, I should have waited. Made him buy his own damn gear.” Except he wouldn’t have bought his own gear, would he? Because he was too scared to even acknowledge their relationship in public. Maybe she would have shown up for his big launch, dressed to the nines, only to be introduced as _ my friend, Lilly _ and then dismissed like a piece of furniture. 

Lilly wasn’t stupid. She knew that it would take more than a few weeks for them to untangle his sexual hang-ups. But nothing else mattered when it was just the two of them, and he’d already proved himself to be a strong-willed, driven individual. Duke having an emotional breakthrough was not a matter of _ if, _ but _ when _. 

She hadn’t counted on how hard the outside world might hit them. 

She hadn’t counted on how hard it might hit her.

Duke losing his confidence and reverting to type was almost inevitable in the circumstances. That she suddenly felt awkward and unsure of herself was not. It didn’t even matter that she’d managed to save the situation before the recordings made it to the world - if anything, it almost made things worse. 

Sally returned from work to find her in the living room, not having moved at all from where she’d sat down, turning the collar over and over in her hands. The redhead sighed.

“Oh man. I’m so sorry.”

Lilly shook her head. She reminded herself that she wasn’t the first person to ever be sad. If anything, her life was charmed compared to that of her friends. “We could have been something special. I could feel it, Sal. It was so close, too. I’m not heartbroken,” she announced. “I’m disappointed.”

“Riiiight.” There was a scraping sound, as Sally pulled up a chair and flopped down in front of her.

“What?” Lilly glared at her over the edge of her glasses. 

“Chill, O, Evil One,” her friend said. “I’m just making myself comfortable.”

“What for?”

“The inevitable.”

She had no idea what she meant. If anything, Sally was becoming more and more inscrutable these days. Ever since she realized, in fact, the reason Ren Tao had been supposedly sending debt collectors after them, and why he hadn’t made his apologies in person, and— “Do you think this would have happened if I were normal?”

_ Where the hell did that come from? _

“Normal as in not a ghost-talker, or normal as in vanilla?” Sally asked. 

“I doubt Duke knows how I got the phone back.”

“Ah, fair.” The redhead nodded. “No.”

“No?”

“No, I don’t think any of this would not have happened if you were vanilla.” 

Lilly waited for her to continue. “You know,” she said, “this isn’t as self-explanatory as you think it is.”

Her friend shrugged. “What’s there to explain? You’re good, but you didn’t invent sexual blackmail. You said yourself that creep was prowlin’ the club, looking for victims. If it wasn’t you and Duke, then it would have been someone else. Who knows? He might’ve gotten away with it, too.”

“I just feel like—” she stopped and tried to sort through everything running through her head. “I know this is bullshit. If one of you told me this, I’d be furious. But I keep thinking that if I wasn’t into the lifestyle… if Duke and I had a vanilla relationship, none of this would have caused a scandal.”

“Being blackmailed isn’t a walk in the park for anybody,” Sally said, gentler than she expected. When she looked up, her friend had a sad look on her face. “I know, remember? At one point, I thought that was what was happening to me. Except I wasn’t the only one suffering - everyone I ever loved was on the receiving end of it. 

“I don’t know what Duke’s damage is, Lil, but from what you say, he’s an intensely private person. He would have had a meltdown regardless of what you two were recorded doing. Anyway, you’re not bothered by the idea that the world thinks you’re dirty or evil for engaging in kink.”

“Oh? Why am I having a literal crisis of faith over this then?”

“Because you suspect Duke thinks the same thing. And that maybe you agree.”

Lilly gasped in outrage. 

But she couldn’t find the words to rebuke the claim, either. 

“If our roles were reversed,” Sally went on, “right now you’d be telling me that this is my internalized misogyny talking. That it’s a construct by the patriarchy to control women’s bodies and that we must not preemptively kink-shame ourselves because it literally does not serve us in any way. Which… you know… I agree with. But it looks like Duke was kink-shaming himself a lot, too - so I’m not surprised you’re feeling doubtful right now.”

“You know what,” Lilly said, dashing at her eyes. “You’re right.”

“Glad to be of use. Want me to take this thing to the post office?”

She looked at the collar, then the box and the returns form. She ought to return it. It was a custom order but that didn’t mean the maker couldn’t sell it to someone else. It was a waste to have this languishing in her drawer.

And yet… “Leave it for now,” she said. “Maybe I’ll burn it ritualistically or something to purge my heart of this.”

Sally squeezed her shoulder. “You did nothing wrong, to fall for him,” she said gently. “Don’t blame yourself for showing up.”

That was the thing, Lilly thought.

She thought he’d been showing up for her, too.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Shaman King or Yu Gi Oh.
> 
> Content warning for this chapter: mentions of past abuse and past sexual abuse. Reader discretion is advised.

Duke looked at the folder as though it might bite him. 

“This is a background check,” he said. “I can’t read that.”

“Seeing as your mistress shared your intimate business with me, it seems like a fair trade,” Bryan said, circling the desk and perching on the corner, just on the right of Duke’s eyeline. “Lilly was warned before she started working here that I am obliged by law to run one of these on her. She knew that I have to show the records if someone asks after her.”

“I’m not a client.”

“Neither are the police or the tax man or the city council folks that renew my business license. I still have to have these checks, and I need to keep them current.” With a whisper, the papers were slid further out toward Duke. “For what it’s worth, she told me most of these things herself.”

“Why would she sign up for this?” Duke asked. “I mean… I get that she enjoys the work, but why would she agree to give up her privacy like that?”

“Without getting into too much detail? She was in debt.”

“And you just obliged her?” He couldn’t keep his tone from becoming acerbic.

“Would you rather she literally walked the streets to earn her money?” Bryan sneered now. “Ah, I suppose you would. That’ll fit a lot better with that Pretty Woman narrative you’re trying to maneuver her into.”

Duke felt his face grow hot. Lilly had accused him of something similar before, too. He’d assured her he didn’t see her as a victim, so why was her boss lobbing accusations at him like that?

“I won’t read this,” he said, nodding at the folder. “Whatever happened in Lilly’s past, she’ll tell me when she’s ready.”

“Very magnanimous of you,” the older man said. “Now tell me - when the two of you meet next, what will you say to make her listen? Will you even be able to get through to her, or will you shrink back at the first sign of a rebuke. Lilith isn’t some fainting flower or a demure maiden, you know. She will give you one chance - tops.”

_ Do you want to go in unprepared? _

Duke’s eyes flitted between the folder and Bryan, Bryan and the folder. 

“I asked her to be patient with me,” he said at last. “That I needed help understanding. But when push came to shove, she— she just shut down.”

“She does that. She’s not infallible.” The older man sighed, seemingly resigned. Then he pulled the folder toward him and flipped the cover open. He cleared his throat and started to read. “Fifteen years ago, in a town in the middle of nowhere—”

“What are you doing?”

But he knew already. This was a compromise. He would read out loud and give Duke a chance to leave if he wanted to. And then, if his own conscious gave him pause, he could assuage it by saying “I didn’t do it. I just couldn’t get my feet moving in time to leave.” Bryan met his eyes over the top of the paper and held them for a minute, daring him to object. Then he started narrating again.

“—in this town, a man went to prison on charges of financial fraud. It came as a shock, as he had previously been regarded as a pillar of the community and a role model for his many, many foster children. Naturally, when he made a bid for an early release five years into his sentence, everyone banded around to try and help his case. Well—” Bryan smirked. “Mostly everyone.”

Duke wondered if it was possible for him to even leave at this point. His legs worked - he could probably make it into the corridor. Barring that, he could just ask Bryan to stop. He knew instinctively he would hear something awful, and yet he was rooted in his spot, unable to move.

“Three nights before the parole hearing,” Bryan went on, “somebody posted an anonymous tip to the police that one of the man’s old friends - a local councilman, if you believe it - was withholding evidence to the case. At the same time as officers went round to that house, somebody - or somebodies, it was never clear - posted unmarked envelopes to every person who had signed the petition in favor of that man’s early release. Within the envelopes were printouts from the man’s original discussions with the prosecutors.”

“What… what was he really charged with?” Duke asked, voice weak.

“That night,” Bryan said, without giving sign of having heard him, “the police raid unearthed a very large stash of pictures and video files from the councilman’s computer. The man had taken a guilty plea and gone to prison for financial fraud, but the reason police had brought him in the first place was because of accusations that he was abusing the little ones in his care - even going as far as getting one of them pregnant.”

He thought he might be sick.

“What… what was Lilly’s role in all this?” he finally got out, holding onto his chair for dear life.

“Well, that is where things get interesting,” the older man said, completely oblivious to Duke’s discomfort. “You see, although the tide of public opinion turned pretty quickly, the police still had to investigate who had done this mischief. Kids from that time were the obvious suspects, as many of them were now sixteen or seventeen. 

“Lilith got rounded up along with the other troublemakers. She was known for being a little weird, and… well… having skills with computers. Ironically, the police couldn’t actually find evidence tying her to the crime; just circumstantial stuff that was strenuous at best. The local prosecutor asked the judge to let her and one of her friends go without jail time, if they agreed to a lifetime ban on using any device that connects to the Internet.”

Duke’s eyes widened. 

“So that’s… she’s…”

“Legally not allowed to even have a Kindle, yes. Although, a few years later it turned out the police had interrogated her without an adult present, so the judge lowered the term to a decade-long ban.” Bryan smirked. “Give her a few more months and she will be able to take a boring job as an accountant or an office lady.”

He was barely listening. He felt… he didn’t even know where to begin.

“Wait,” he said, finally. “She deleted the files off that man’s computer. And the Internet. And—”

“And sent the information about his father to every journo in town using a computer. Allegedly.” The older man coughed. “I suppose someone should alert her parole officer… want me to give you her number?”

Duke gave him a venomous look. 

“Yeah, thought so.” Bryan closed the folder. “As you can see, none of this stuff precludes her from working for me. And in all the time she has been Mistress Lilith, she has never stepped a foot out of line. In fact, I’d be inclined to believe that somebody else entirely did whatever you think she did to your blackmailer. He was quite prolific, after all - if the police were to investigate, they would have a long list of suspects to go through.”

“Wait!” Duke said. “What… what happened to the other case? Did that man leave prison? And what… what about the other kids that were in his care?” 

Bryan shrugged. “Doesn’t say here. I imagine new evidence meant the case had to be reopened, possibly with all the children being interrogated all over again. It would have all been closed door and classified, for obvious reasons.”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“She told me she could not use a computer, not the full back story.” The implication was clear. If he wanted to learn what had happened - and what had happened to her, specifically - he would have to ask Lilly herself.

Except… the more he thought about it, the more terrified he became of the prospect. What would he even say to her? Where would he even start? 

“You know,” Bryan said, as he locked Lilly’s file away, “I think breaking up was a good decision for you.”

Duke gave him a dirty look. “Why? Because I’m not good enough for her?”

“Because she’s never gonna be what you want.”

That was just too rich. “Lilly’s gorgeous,” he said. “And smart, and wild, and bold. She is perfect exactly as she is.”

“And yet here you are, upset that she is apparently not victim enough for you to save.” The man flopped back in his chair, strangely graceful for such a behemoth. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t disagree. Lilith is a force of nature. She also has no concept of restorative justice, and when someone wrongs her, she can be positively Medieval in her punishments. That’s why you’re upset - not because she went and did a bad thing to help you, but because she got away with it.”

Duke snorted. “What? You think I want a sex tape of me to leak on the Internet?”

“You could have gotten the police involved,” Bryan pointed out. “Or, barring that, a P.I., or one of those in-house lawyers your investors keep around for just such occasions. You could have talked to me - someone who specializes in keeping secrets - instead of putting her in a position where she had to choose between betraying your trust and protecting others. You were ready to lie down and let people walk all over you.”

“That’s not true. When Serenity told me she was forced to— when she told me what happened, I was ready to find this guy and beat his face in.”

“Mhm. So it’s okay if it happens to kinksters, but not to Serenity. Interesting.”

His stomach dropped as the full meaning of the words sank in. “Oh, God,” he whispered, cradling his face in his hands. “Oh, God.”

“Like I said.” Bryan clicked his tongue. “It’s a good thing you broke up.”

***

Duke stumbled out of the Sword of Damocles and immediately dialed Lilly’s number.

It went - unsurprisingly - straight to voice mail.

He then started to type an email, only realizing the obvious blunder as he tried to find an address that did not exist. Desperate, he dialed her again, only to be told by the automatic operator that the number in question is no longer in service. 

Between his first call and the next, she’d blocked him.

He couldn’t say he blamed her.

Walking back to his home, he kept running through everything they’d said to each other; every word, every little gesture. And the more he thought about it, the more shame he felt. 

From the first night, she’d been trusting him - to be honest about his boundaries, about his desires, about his fears. And what had he done the second his biggest fear manifested itself? He’d yelled at her, and then gotten mad when she took matters into his own hands.

Inside his apartment, Duke dropped his jacket to the floor and kicked off his shoes. Everywhere he looked, he found something that offended his sensibilities. The monochromatic decor, the too-fancy appliances, the furniture that was just too good to use. He looked and looked and looked and all he wanted was to spray-paint graffiti all over the place, vandalize it and tear it apart. 

Instead, he slid down the wall until he was kneeling on the floor, like a puppet that had had its strings cut.

_ Loser. _ The taunts rang through his ears. _ Loser, loser, loser. _

All his life, he’d wanted to know what it was like to hold the world at the palm of his hand. His universe was full of rules - that if you just worked hard enough, if you learned for long enough, you would eventually be rewarded. The people on top were there through hard work and perseverance, and anybody who defied that logic must have been cheating. 

_ No wonder I hated Yugi at first, _ Duke thought, smiling bitterly. _ I was sure he’d cut in the line. _

Even when he was supposedly on the up and up, he couldn’t help taking his failings out on other people. He’d pursued Serenity, and even though she hadn’t been interested, he’d needled Tristan on endlessly about it, throwing at him every insult he himself could not take: “The ladies like men of action… you’re just some wannabe cheerleader.”

Duke rolled to his feet and picked up his landline. For a second, he didn’t even expect there to be a signal. Then he was dialing Lilly again. And again. And again.

Nothing. His calls went to voice, and then, eventually, stopped connecting at all. 

_ What would a real man of action do? _ He wondered, staring at his receiver. Showing up at her door seemed like an invitation for a restraining order at this point. What did that leave him with? Flowers? Candy? She’d probably laugh and throw them straight in the trash.

Bryan’s mocking laughter echoed through his mind.

“What am I doing?” Duke snarled, straightening up. “What the fuck have I got to lose at this point?”

He had to start somewhere. He’d fucked up. If she was even going to give him a chance to apologize, he had to earn it. 

***

Lilly stared at the tulips - gorgeous, audacious, vibrant blooms - standing in the middle of the living room table like a dare.

“Don’t look so worried,” she told Ellie. “I’m not tossing these. I would never disrespect another florist like this.”

“I wasn’t worried,” her friend said, coming closer. “Yellow and red. Somebody’s pining for their lost perfect lover.”

“The Victorians used tulips to signify charity more than love.” Lilly pulled a card out of the bouquet and frowned at the awkward script. “This could easily be a plea for a final pity fuck.”

He really wasn’t good with handwriting, she thought, looking at how the words were formed, the uneven slant to the words. She was expecting something short and unsatisfactory, like, “Give me a chance.” 

Instead, in tiny letters, he’d managed to squeeze an entire Marianne Williamson quote on a 4x4 inch card:

_ “A tulip doesn’t strive to impress anyone. It doesn’t struggle to be different from a rose. It doesn’t have to. It is different. And there is room in the garden for every flower.” _

_Lilly, I was wrong. You are within your right to despise me, but please allow me to at least apologize in person. _

“Good thing you don’t do pity fucks,” Sally said, reading over her shoulder. “That’s not a bad effort there.”

“Oh, please.” She folded up the card but her hands shook. “How many of those have we written when we worked at the florist? Dozens? He probably typed tulip, love, quote into a search engine and wrote down the first one that sounded okay.”

“At least he remembered what your favorites are.”

He also remembered - as she discovered throughout the next week - that she liked white raspberry chocolate, that her favorite season of Buffy was number six, that she loved Angels in America, and that she thought it was a criminal shame that the center for family planning was underfunded. When the Use of Private Buildings for Enterprise Act got killed, (with only a couple of column inches dedicated to the event) he sent her the newspaper clipping in a frame. And then, three days before the event came an invitation, on black card with silver writing: “You are cordially invited to the launch of Dungeons, Dice and Monsters…”

“You should stop frowning so hard,” Sharona announced, not looking up from the simulation she was trying to run on her laptop. “You remind me of a troll drawing.”

“Is that your way of saying I’m one-dimensional and paper-thin?”

“No. Just that you are making this more difficult for yourself than it ought to be.”

Perhaps she was. After all, she could stop these gifts with a single text. _ Fuck off. _

She even got as far as typing it up. But when it came to unblock his number and send it, she found herself just shoving her phone into her drawer. 

Her friends could tell she was upset. Unfortunately, just as she had been unable to speak to Sally candidly about her problems, they couldn’t find the words to get to her. So they all skirted the issue, quietly, as Duke’s peace offerings piled up on the kitchen table. 

The day of the launch, there was a single letter waiting for her as she came home from work. Right on the back of the envelope was a plea, bold and visible for anybody to read: _ Lilly, please don’t shred this. _

Sighing, she splashed water on her face and drank a full cup of coffee before looking inside.

_ The man at the stationary shop told me I was his first customer all afternoon, so I bought a ton of this paper and a proper pen. I had some lofty ideas that it might improve my handwriting, but it turns out I’m just shit at anything that doesn’t involve a computer. _

_My parents emailed me the other day to wish good luck with the launch. Said they couldn’t be there but that they would watch a re-run later. They also said they’re pleased I invested their money wisely. Pegasus said ‘good riddance.’ All I could think of was how I hadn’t even thought to invite them over. _

_I nearly didn’t send an invitation to Yugi and the others, too - you made me mail them out last month under threat of punishment. I’m glad they will come. Even Tristan and Serenity RSVP-ed. But I was so afraid it’s going to be a flop, that nobody might show up, I was ready to just hide from the whole thing._

_Lilly, I’m sorry. I didn’t treat you like someone I cared for, or respected. I fucked up. Please let me apologize._

_I know Bryan told you I came to look for you at work, and that he let me have it. I should come to you directly, but I’m a coward. I don’t want to force a confrontation, especially when I don’t know if you even want to see me again. _

_I’m a coward. But I was never ashamed of you. Never. _

_I would be honored to have you by my side tonight, just as I am honored to sit at your feet. _

“So what are you gonna do?” 

Sally’s voice startled her out of her reverie. She was surprised at how stiff her back felt as she turned - had she been sitting for that long? How many minutes had she spent just staring into the aether?

“He calls himself a coward,” Lilly muttered. “But am I any better?”

Her friend shrugged. “I don’t know. Aren’t you?”

Sometimes she thought she was. Others, not so much. She fancied herself a freedom fighter in her own way, but beat herself up for wanting love and affection, the same way as any other human being. Looking at Sally, she finally forced out the question that had been bothering her for half a year now. 

“How did you do it?” Lilly asked. “How did you find it in you to let go of Ren? And don’t tell me that you just pretended he was the one sending _ jiangxi _ after us - we both know it wasn’t that easy.”

The redhead seemed baffled by the question. “Well,” she said, after a while, “for starters, I never thought that Ren and I were going to amount to anything. Hell… we hooked up at the tournament. Even if we were optimistic and we never fought one another, one of us would have had to leave eventually. I knew that when we first started fooling around. The thing with the debt… it was hurtful, but only because he insisted that if he judged me for my earlier actions, he would also have to judge himself more. When Seto told me what had really happened with Ren’s wife and his kid…”

Sally stopped, her face becoming pinched as she seemed to struggle for words. Eventually, she gave another shrug. 

“I always knew he’d go on and start a family,” she said. “Just like I knew that family would not be with me. I didn’t pin my hopes on him, so when the time came, I chose moving on.”

“That simple?” Lilly asked. “No expectations means no disappointment?”

“Oh, I was disappointed,” Sally corrected. “I was disappointed that someone I thought was a friend might be a deceitful, vindictive dick. _ That _ was messed up.”

Lilly’s eyes started to fill. “I know I’m supposed to be the brave one,” she sniffed, folding the letter up. “But I really can’t bring myself to trust him again.”

“Then don’t trust him.” Sally took the envelope and set it on top of their cutlery cabinet. “Ride off whatever it is that’s bothering you. Stop rationalizing your feelings and just feel them.”

Ellie, Millie and Sharona returned not too long after, and said - each in their own way - the same thing. 

“Look, it’s nice that he made an effort,” Sharona said. “But you’re not obliged to accept it. He ought to respect that.”

“I know.” Lilly dashed at her eyes. “I’m sorry you’ll have to face the launch alone.”

“Oh, I’m not going,” Sharona said, shaking her head. “I already talked to Seto about it and we both agreed that it’s easier if he rides solo tonight. Less awkwardness, and I can just enjoy a girls’ night in. Hell, we could put on the dresses Ellie made for us and then drink wine on the couch.”

“Dresses?” She looked at her other friend. “You made us dresses?”

Ellie blushed. “Well, you weren’t going shopping anytime soon, and I thought it might be a good project for my design portfolio.” She paused. “Wanna see?”

They did. Sharona got ready first, and came out in a deep navy blue sheath with a halter top and a silver lace overlay. Every time she moved, she seemed to sparkle. Her legs, usually hidden in work trousers and long skirts, seemed to go on for miles and miles. 

Then Lilly went into her room to find a dream laid out on her bed. Reverently, she traced her fingers along the embroidery along the collar and back; the long sleeves; the seams that flowed from the top all the way to the bottom. Even with her poor understanding of sewing, she could tell it would look gorgeous on her. 

Even before she was finished zipping herself up, she knew this was too beautiful to waste on a night of watching movies and sobbing into her tequila. Turning, she adjusted her hair, popped on her lace-up heels, and applied lipstick.

“You look like a pinup version of Morticia Addams,” Sally commented, after the wolf whistles had died down. 

Lilly stuck several poses for Ellie to take pictures. Then he said. “Screw staying in,” she said. “Let’s hit the town. I’m fucking sick of being home.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Shaman King or Yu Gi Oh. 
> 
> Content warning for drunken silliness and generalised misogyny. (A true breather after the last one, I'm tellin' ya.)

The booze flowed, and so did the money. Duelists from all stripes had gathered around to watch Yugi Muto face off against contenders for his title, and they were using his game to do it. The tech was firing off at all pistons, the graphics were flawless, and no matter how many people hopped onto the free WiFi, it didn’t falter. Four major investors had already approached him to pledge their money to Dungeons, Dice, and Monsters. By any measure, the evening was a success.

Duke was barely holding it together.

It wasn’t because he was waiting for Lilly to come sweeping in - he’d known he was on his own when Seto Kaiba arrived with his brother and not his girlfriend. It also wasn’t the scripted tedium of speeches and toasts - Duke had only three lines that weren’t him thanking numerous people. If he could be counted on to do one thing, it was faking it. 

No. What really threw him was how little he felt altogether.

That was supposed to be his night. He expected to feel dread, excitement, paralyzing fear, euphoria, even intense hatred. Instead, he wandered from group to group, still nursing the same whiskey he’d used to toast earlier, and he was as numb as though he’d just come out dental surgery. Not even seeing his game in a true Virtual Reality made him happy. All he could do was pick out minute flaws in his own design, wondering why he hadn’t included a proviso for so-and-so rule, and being annoyed for certain players not getting it.

None of it registered for more than a few seconds, though. 

“A very brave effort,” one of his potential investors told him. “Gutsy of you to take such a big swing at things. Your parents must be proud.”

“Bursting with it.” They hadn’t even called on the day. 

“You know,” Seto said, as he and Mokuba joined him on one of the viewing platforms. “If you’re going to be a miserable bastard all evening, you might as well go on the arena and duel. At least it’ll provide us with some entertainment.”

Duke gave him a sideways glance. The elder Kaiba looked, as usual, like the pinnacle of elegance and style. He waited for the familiar feeling of inadequacy to hit, but all he said was, “That’s a bit rich, coming from you.”

“Mr Devlin!” another group of people approached them. He was vaguely aware that a few worked at city hall, but that was about all his brain supplied before he was drawn into a whirlpool of small talk. Every now and again, he tried to bring Kaiba into the conversation, only to find both he and his brother were far more interested in the games being played than anything else.

Across the platform, he could see Joey, Tristan and Serenity cheering as Yugi and Tea started a boyfriend-girlfriend match. The brown-haired girl - the one he had chased for so long - was in the arms of his friend, and he was neither entirely jealous, nor entirely sad about it. To call himself happy would have been a stretch, but he was… glad.

Yes. Glad was a good word for it.

“…Townsworth, though? Bloody shocking, that.” His companion’s words jarred him out of his reverie, sending a sudden spike of fear through him.

“Bunch of BS, if you ask me,” another one of the group said. “Although I never liked that boy of his. Always scheming, trying to short-cut his way to success, and constantly running to his dad for help. I told him - Charlie, that Kail of yours is going to send you to an early grave. Turns out it was prison instead.”

“I’m not sure I follow,” Duke muttered, trying to keep his cool. It really did seem like these people didn’t think there was more to what had happened than it seemed. 

“Oh, don’t worry yourself, lad.” The first man patted him hard on the back. “Just find yourself a nice girl and never have kids.”

“Speaking of which, where’s your lovely shadow, Seto?” the clairvoyant of the group boomed, causing several people to look over, concerned.

“Spending some quality time with her family,” the elder Kaiba said. “As am I.”

“Ooh, trouble in paradise already? Can’t say I blame you, lad, she makes a scary picture with that mug of hers.” Chuckles all around. Duke was incensed. He wasn’t even the one dating the woman, and he was furious on her behalf. Why the hell wasn’t Kaiba saying anything?

“That’s a pretty crass—” he started, but was cut off by the first man.

“What perfect timing for a boy’s night out, though.” His eyes were drawn to the battle field, where a pair of female monsters were fighting it out. They were rendered gorgeously, almost too beautiful to be real, but he wasn’t admiring the artistry. “My God, if I were one bit less boring! Can you imagine getting away from the old ball-and-chain to spend some time with these beauties?”

“I shall pass on your compliments to my ball and chain then,” Seto Kaiba said. “Seeing as she’s one of the engineers to make this happen.”

There was a very long pause, as the other people seemed to realize the temperature in the room had dropped to sub-zero levels. Another minute went between that moment and them coming up with a reasonable excuse to scurry away. They gave Duke apologetic glances - as if _ they _ were sorry _ he _ would be left behind. What a joke.

“Do they teach you how to destroy a conversation in thirty syllables or less? Or is that just a natural talent?” he asked, finally.

Kaiba’s lips twitched in a smile. “Now I understand what Lilly sees in you. I was beginning to worry.”

***

Was it “Miserable Singles Night” everywhere or was it just that every song on the charts was about heartbreak now? Lilly didn’t know, and quite frankly, she was getting sick of it.

“What happened to clubs playing Taylor Swift back to back?” she screamed as she and Ellie lined up shots at their table. Millie sipped her orange juice demurely as the others toasted, somehow more adult and mature than all the twenty-four year olds around her. 

Whatever. Her heart had survived one breakage and had come out stronger. She would turn out better than all of them.

“Fuck me.” Sally made a face. “What was that, drain cleaner?”

“Drain cleaner tastes better.” Sharona licked her lips. “I think that was rat poison.”

“Vodka, bitch. It’s vodka,” Lilly shouted. “And if you have a problem with that, you can go buy the next round.”

“Gladly.” Sharona swayed on her feet and the flopped back in her chair. “In a minute.”

The song was going on and on, offending her sensibilities. Seriously, how many ways could Daya beg some worthless guy to show up for her? Especially when it was clear to anybody listening that she’d lost that battle before it even began. 

“Can we persuade the DJ to take a request?” she whined.

Millie jumped off the table, only to get yanked back. “Don’t try your luck, kid,” Sally replied, adjusting her shirt and ruffling her hair. 

“Acid green suits her,” Ellie slurred, leaning against the table. “Think we can talk her in a dress some time? She’d be a vision in satin.”

“If you want to fuck her, you should just say so,” Lilly said, picking up another shot. She was going at a rate of 2:1 to the others and as far as she was concerned, she was too slow. “She’ll oblige you.”

“Oh, my God, Lilly. You don’t get to be sad and be an asshole. Pick one state and stick to it.” Ellie immediately contradicted herself by leaning against her and whining, “Damn it, I miss men.”

“Then have one. Look—” she gestured “—all you have to do is take your pick.”

Her friend sniffled something that sounded like “not the one I want.”

_ Yeah, _ Lilly sighed into her glass. _ Me, neither. _

Sally returned, a triumphant grin on her face as the opening lines of a hard rock number started to echo through the club. There was no way to stay sitting after that. None. Not possible. They hit the dancefloor and screamed and shouted and jumped like a bunch of holler monkeys song, after song, after song. Even as Lilly’s feet began to hurt and she felt thirst turning her mouth into a desert, she didn’t stop.

She didn’t want to stop. 

If she did…

If she did…

She didn’t know. It was bad, though.

The fortitude lasted until about half an hour into their dance session. She was still moving, hands still thrown up and hips undulating, abandoning herself to the song. Except when the drop hit, her whole body went still. Lilly turned her face up, suddenly unable to take a clear breath, as wave after wave of sadness crashed over her.

“Hon?” Sharona shouted over the music. “What is it?”

No idea. She wanted to speak but the words were stuck in her throat. The strobe lights flashed overhead, strangely blurry.

Exhaustion, anger, thirst… she didn’t know what tipped her off, but she was suddenly bawling into Sharona’s shoulder, ruining her beautiful dress. “I liked him,” was all she managed to choke out. “Damn it, I really liked him.”

“I know.” She stroked her hair. “We wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.”

The impertinence should have made her laugh. Instead, she sobbed harder. Vaguely, she was aware of the others crowding in, holding her close, and all she could think about was how fucked up it all was.

She was loved. She was protected. And yet, all she wanted was the one who made her hurt in the first place.

***

“You think I lost my chance, don’t you?” 

The three of them slowly walked around the room, pretending to have somewhere to go. It wasn’t difficult - the majority of guests seemed to have settled down to eat or to watch duels, conversation abandoned for now. The younger Kaiba had even lost interest and was currently playing on his phone, fingers flying over the keys at lightning pace.

Duke couldn’t blame him. If he had to listen to someone ask Seto relationship advice, he’d be looking for ways of hiding from the residual embarrassment as well.

To his credit, the man seemed to actually consider the question for half a second, before saying, “Yes.”

Damn it. “I knew I shouldn’t have tried the gifts route.”

“Have you considered that maybe the problem isn’t your approach?” Kaiba asked, as the three finally found another, more secluded viewing platform. “That you can do all the right things, and still get rejected?”

“I have.” Duke stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked on the balls of his feet. “I still had to try, though. I… I don’t know why. I just did. But today was the last one - I’ll let her be now.”

“Why?” Mokuba asked, finally looking up from his phone. “I mean… was today special?”

Duke looked around - at the celebration, at the games, at the smiling investors ready to put capital into his company. Yeah, it was supposed to be special. Or, at least, he thought it would be. Now, he was wondering if maybe he talked himself into believing his own hype. 

“Never mind,” Duke said. “It’s stupid.”

Seto let out a slow breath through nose. “Devlin, I’m not interested in your romantic life, and quite frankly, I’d rather not get between you and Lilian,” he said. “But I’ll say this - if someone had assaulted my lover, having their secrets exposed would be the least of their problems.”

“I know. I was trying to tell Lilly that I understood—”

“You’re not listening,” Kaiba interrupted. “You’re not me on this analogy.”

Duke stared at him, dumb struck. “I… I wasn’t assaulted.”

“You were recorded in an intimate moment without your knowledge or consent. You were then threatened with that record being made available to the world. How is that not assault?” 

And he thought the world was done sucker-punching him. He leaned back against the wall, as though recovering from a physical blow. 

“I was only thinking of her,” he managed, finally.

No response came from either of the Kaiba brothers. Somehow, none was needed. 

“What do I do?” Duke muttered. “I don’t want it to be over. I know I should respect her wishes but I don’t want to let her go. Being without her hurts. Being with her hurts, too, but this hurts more.”

“Can’t say I can help you with that,” Seto replied, now visibly uncomfortable.

“You weren’t enjoying tonight anyway,” Mokuba chimed in. “I mean, I saw you earlier and you were totally on autopilot. Maybe _ you _ need a break, too, before you make any decisions.”

Duke shook his head. “This has nothing to do with Lilly,” he said, gesturing around. “I just… I don’t feel happy with my work. I know I ought to be, but I’m not. But it isn’t because she’s not here. I’d have been miserable anyway.”

“Keeping an eye on the bigger picture is important,” Seto said, seemingly glad to be on firmer ground. “It helps to see things as a step towards something bigger and not just singular flukes. Keeps your ego from growing, too.”

That statement was hilarious enough for Duke to burst into laughter. The elder Kaiba gave him a filthy look.

“And the same goes for Lilly,” he added, tone scathing. “If you want her so badly, then learn from the mistake. Stop hiding what you really want, and show her you’re not embarrassed instead of just telling her. And if she still doesn’t want you after that, fuck her.”

“Metaphorically, I assume?”

Seto muttered something that sounded suspiciously like _ brat _ under his nose. “And since I’m feeling generous tonight, I’ll have you know launch events suck as a rule,” he added, haughtily. “In all honesty, I’d leave here at the first opportunity.”

“That can be arranged,” Mokuba said, holding up his phone. From what Duke could see, there was nothing on his chat log other than strings and strings of emoji. “Millie says they left the last club and they’re heading for the marina. We could intercept them if you want.”

“How, again, is Millie accompanying them on this little outing?” Seto asked, crossing his arms.

Mokuba shrugged and typed something in. A second later the response came. “Er… she says not to ask questions we don’t wanna know the answers to?”

Duke blinked, still catching up. “What club are you talking about? I thought you said they were spending quality time together.”

“Quality time in that household is a flexible term,” Seto frowned even more deeply. If Duke didn’t know better, he seemed… worried, almost. “They usually behave themselves around Millie, though. They wouldn’t go swinging off any chandeliers or diving into the sea.”

“Err…” Mokuba scratched the back of his head, reading the messages that were coming through. “Actually, Lilly’s been suggesting they do just that.”

“It’s early October!” Duke exclaimed.

“Maybe they think it’s a good idea? I mean… I could tell them you say otherwise?”

“Don’t bother, they’ll see that and go into the water out of spite” Seto interrupted, straightening his sleeves. Then he started walking toward the door. 

Duke stood, frozen on the spot, unsure what to do until the elder Kaiba threw over his shoulder. “Well? Or at you not done moping yet?”

***

The sea was full of lost souls, and she was about to set every last one of them free.

Lilly kicked off her shoes, giggling, while Sharona shouted from the shore about what a terrible idea all of this was.

_ Sharona shouted from the shore… she sells sea shells… _ The notion made her giggle harder.

“Ooh, this is cold,” Ellie said, wading in after her. “This is… ssssssuper cold.”

“Focus on your _ furioku _ You’ll be boiling in no time.” Sally’s eyes were already starting to grow with spiritual energy.

The three of them, weird sisters. Lilly was so glad to have them in her life.

From the beach, Millie and Sharona kept telling them they were idiots. Well. Fine. But they would be useful idiots. They would release these poor unfortunate souls because they had a choice on the matter, and they took their duties as ghost talkers seriously. No siree, their work was never done. And she was powerful enough to do it all by herself.

“If that’s the case, can you get on with this so that we can go home?” Ellie asked, shivering.

Knee deep in the water, their feet sliding against the wet sand, this was probably the worst possible thing they could do. And yet, Lilly called her powers forward, and cast them out into the sea. “Come,” she called out. “And follow me into the light, my darlings.”

Spirits did not like to linger on Earth. She was just helping them along.

And, if Lilly was entirely honest, she wanted the blow-back again. She wanted pain, and oblivion, and more pain. Yes, she was self-destructive. Who the fuck cared anymore?

Her friends were holding her up, lending her their powers. But she didn’t need them. She could hear every soul that had died in this marina, and she was going to set them free.

“There we go,” she whispered, and opened her eyes.

Spirit after spirit rose from the water like fireflies, lingering in the air before slowly rising into the aether. For a brief moment, Lilly was so distracted by the light show, she forgot it was she who made it happen, and wondered what otherworldly creature had decided to grace them with their presence. 

Then the rest of her brain caught up and she felt a tug inside her stomach, the first sign that her body was starting to give out. The nausea would follow, and then she would black out. 

“Two hundred, two hundred and fifty…” Sally kept counting. “How long do you plan on keep going for?” 

For as many as she had to. 

Lilly sighed.

“What the hell?” 

The voice echoed from the shore, causing her concentration to waver. It sounded… no… it couldn’t be…

The souls were calling for her to follow them. It would be so easy, too. Lilly sighed and felt her self-resolve waver.

“No, I don’t think so,” Ellie muttered. Suddenly, the furioku flow changed and she felt her own powers retract into her. “Come on now, Lil. Don’t do things drunk that you’ll regret sober.”

“Lilly!”

There was that annoying voice again. Splashing noises were accompanying it, like someone was wading in deep water. Kind of like the water she was in. Huh. Interesting.

“Come on,” Ellie went on. “You’ve used up your allowance for self-pity. Time to be an adult.”

“Adultin’s overrated,” Lilly muttered.

But her friends were blocking her out from using her abilities further. Not painfully so - they were just smothering them, turning down the heat while turning up their own. She was too drunk to fight. And, quite honestly, too tired, too.

And then…

“Lilly! What’s wrong with her? What’s going on?” That voice was right in her ear. And when Sally and Ellie let go, she didn’t slip back into the water as she wanted, but fell against a body. A very familiar, very male body. 

Lilly squinted up. “Ah, hell. How did you two cows figure out a summoning?”

“We didn’t,” Sally said, simply. In the sky above them, the last of the released souls disappeared into the next world.

“Huh,” Lilly sighed, leaning back and closing her eyes. “Remind me to get Millie back for this tomorrow.”

Then she doubled over and threw up in the water.

***

Ghosts, curses, ancient kings… Duke thought he’d seen it all already with Yugi and his friends. What he never thought he might witness was sorceresses doing a mass exorcism because they thought it was funny.

It would have been bad enough trying to wrangle Lilly while she was on dry land. In the Domino city marina, he had to fight her, her drunkenness, and the high tide. 

And Kaiba was no help, either.

“So let me get this straight,” Duke heard him say, as he, Lilly, and her two friends fell into the sea for the umpteenth time on their way to the beach, “The one time you wear corporate colors is on a girl’s night out, and I didn’t even get to see it?”

“Don’t be silly. I wear blue all the time, and you are seeing me right now.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.”

“You find me far quicker in the crowd when I wear red. How are you guys holding up?” Sharona called out.

“We could do with a little hand,” Duke replied. Lilly’s head was lolling from side to side, as she seemed to struggle to stay awake. “Hey, come on. Don’t pass out on me yet.”

“Too late f’r that,” she slurred, poking him in the chest with a finger. “Mabbe if Saint Seto had brought you earlier. Ah, well.”

Saint Seto? Duke stifled a smile and caught her arm before she knocked him back under the water again. 

How odd it was. He was soaking wet, freezing, and the woman he’d been trying to apologize to for weeks was too drunk to even process what was happening. And yet, somehow, he felt calmer than he had all night. His eyes were drawn to the leather band, wrapped twice around her wrist. Red and black check, same as his favorite armbands. “That’s new,” he said. “Doesn’t look like a part of your outfit.”

“Oh.” Lilly frowned at her hand, then stumbled as they finally made it to dry land. “That w’s s’ppos’d t’ be for you.”

“What’s that?”

“That. For you.” She closed her eyes and leaned against him, looking exhausted all of a sudden. “’S a trainin’ collar. Dinnt wanna keep ruining your necklaces.”

Duke blinked at her. Then, “You wanted to collar me?”

“Jus’ for trainin’ purposes. Don’ get ahead of yousself. Y’haven’t earn’ it.” 

“Might as well give up,” Sally muttered. “She’s gone.”

“Amn’t.”

“See my point?” The redhead patted Duke’s back so hard he nearly face-planted on the sand. “Oops. Soz, mate. I guess I don’t know my own strength.”

He shook his head. Was there even a point in asking what was happening again? Or - like everything that was happening with his friends - was it just easier to give up on it?

Kaiba and his brother certainly seemed to take everything in stride, chatting to Sharona and Millie as though they’d just ran into each other casually. In fact, Seto seemed even less bothered about the light show they’d arrived to than Duke had been the first time he’d witnessed Yugi’s transformation. 

“You’ve come a long way since the last time ghosts came up in conversation,” Duke noted wryly as they got to them. 

“Is this really the most pressing thing on your mind, Devlin?” 

No. Lilly was - and from the way she was leaning against his body, she was pretty much dead on her feet. “My place is closest,” he announced. “We can all crash there.”

“There’s no need for that,” Mokuba said, shaking his phone. “I’ve called a car for us. It’ll be here soon.”

“Fat chance we’re leaving Lil alone,” Sally said, leaning her elbow on Duke’s shoulder. He winced in pain as he caught the gleam in her eyes. “Sorry, lover boy, but we’re not very confident in your aftercare.”

He glanced around. “Well, what the hell are you all suggesting I do?”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Yu Gi Oh or Shaman King.
> 
> No content warning for this chapter, except for mush.

Steam billowed around them as Duke held Lilly under the shower of the girls’ cramped bathroom. His clothes lay in a heap on the floor, but he’d taken a moment to hang up her dress on a hook behind the door. Whether or not it was actually salvageable was a question for another day. But he wanted to see her in it one day when she was sober and happy.

He’d tried to remove the leather band from her wrist but had been unable to find the clasp. He’d just have to trust her that it was as water-proof as she claimed.

“Givin’ me a bath?” she asked, as he gently rinsed the salt from her hair. “How very dominant of you.”

“I aim to please,” he said, then pressed a kiss to her shoulder. Was he taking liberties? He hoped not. He was pretty sure her friends wouldn’t hesitate to break down the door if they thought he was. 

Lilly certain seemed happy enough to be in his arms, and the warm water was helping to revive her. Pretty soon, she was going to be able to kick his ass herself if she was unhappy. 

_ She wanted to collar me. Maybe she’ll hold off for a few more moments, _ he thought, caressing her back absentmindedly. Her hair was like black silk. He could just caress it all night.

_ Bang! _ The door shook in its hinges. “Don’t use up all the water in there,” Sally called out. “You’re not the only one who’s freezin’.”

“Nobody forced you to go into the marina,” Sharona said from somewhere inside the apartment, as Duke turned the shower off and helped Lilly out. “Stop standing around in that dress and put on something dry before you catch your death.”

“I take it this is a standard girls’ night out then?” he asked, grabbing a towel.

“How’d you guess?” 

“Kaiba looked pretty terrified when he heard that was what you were doing.”

Lilly chuckled evilly, as Duke knelt down in front of her and ran the towel down her hips and legs. “He ain’t seen nothin’,” she said. “If we got a babysitter for Millie, all Hell would have broken loose.”

“I’m very glad you didn’t,” he paused, looking at the scars on her body before standing and drying himself brusquely. “I don’t think the city would have handled it again.”

“We gotta work on your technique,” Lilly muttered, watching him with dark eyes. “If you’re gonna seduce me, darling, you need to take your time with that.”

He paused, the pajama top unfolding in his hands. His brain needed several goes to confirm that it had, indeed, understood that correctly. “So… I still have a chance to earn that collar?” he asked, not caring how hopeful he sounded.

Lilly sniffed. “What can I say? I have no sense of self-preservation.”

He held out the pajama top wordlessly, and she raised her hands so that he could fit it over her head. He slowly slid her panties up her legs and then did the same with the bottoms. She was drunk. Maybe she was going to regret these words in the morning, but he would just have to prove he deserved them. And the first step was to make sure she didn’t catch her death tonight.

The girls had found him something to wear, which they claimed came from Ellie’s thrifted-and-to-mend pile. It was garish and smelled like mothballs, but he was warm and he was going to be appropriately covered up as he carried Lilly from the bathroom to bed. He wasn’t stealing any of her precious warmth - warmth which seemed to be seeping out of her rapidly as she snuggled closer into him. 

“Hey.” Millie poked her head through the door as he was finishing to tuck them both in. “I just thought to bring a puke bucket and some water.”

“I could have gotten those,” Duke whispered, too worried about disturbing Lilly, who was rapidly drifting off.

“No worries,” Millie said. Setting the items down, she gave him a wry smile. “They’ve been doing the same for me since I was a baby. We all have nights when we just want to blow off some steam.”

He frowned. “I feel like she’s caught a fever.”

“That’s just from overdoing it with her powers. She’ll be fine by morning. Can I get you anything else?”

He shook his head no. 

Was he ever going to stop being surprised? Yugi, Marik and Bakura had made magic sound effortless, even though it was clearly not this way. And the fact that Lilly had used those powers on his behalf shook him to the core.

Just like she had done with using a computer to erase the recordings from the Internet and ensure they would never be targeted again. She had been at real risk, physical and otherwise, and she had just pushed though with it.

The memory of his talk with Bryan knocked another question in his head. Millie was nearly at the door when he called after her. “Sorry, kiddo,” he said. “I’m not trying to be nosy, but… how old are you to get into night clubs?”

She gave him a cheeky grin. “Fourteen going on forty. You’d be surprised how rarely I’m ID-ed, though.”

Duke nodded, studying her features in the dim light. “You won’t hear me judging. I’ve done worse.”

Millie laughed openly.

“Good night, Duke. And… good luck.”

***

“Please, not so loud.”

“You’re the ones who decided to replace all the water in your bodies with vodka last night. Deal with the consequences.”

“You know, the Russians use the same word for water and vodka.”

“Stop trying to get your comebacks from anime. The Russian word for water is _ voda. _”

“Same difference.”

Lilly cringed. She wasn’t sure what was more nauseating - the hangover, the kitchen racket, or Sharona’s flirting with her boyfriend. 

“Hey…” Duke croaked and a second later, she felt his hand on the small of her back. “Sleep well?”

No. She changed her mind. This was the worst.

Waking up, shivering from blow-back and the after-effects of her bender, with Duke cradling her in his arms, felt simultaneously wonderful and terrifying. She’d scurried out of the room as fast as possible, only to discover that the outside was no safer, or quieter. 

“I’d sleep better if Em and Em over there didn’t play Mario Cart so loudly,” she whispered. A second later, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, making it impossible to hide.

“Go back to bed,” he said. “I can bring your breakfast there.”

“Not a chance,” Sharona declared, gesturing with her spatula at both of them. “No eating inside the rooms. The last landlord skinned us on the security deposit because of the stains on the mattress.”

“Those weren’t from food. And he was not one to talk, since the mold in the bathroom practically had sentience when we moved in.” Lilly shuddered.

Seto, who was currently making the noisiest coffee in the world, gave a snort and reached across the stove to lower the heat on the omelets. Sharona tried smacking him with a spatula. “Enough. I’m not going to burn them.”

“You better not. I’m not making grocery store runs in a tux,” he said.

She stuck out her tongue. “Love you, too, darling. Now, pass me a plate.”

Lilly mimed gagging. Duke just rubbed her back.

Greasy food and caffeine revived her somewhat, but didn’t take away the dread she felt as she realized that the guy she’d fought with, ignored, and then thrown up on wasn’t going anywhere. In fact, the more time passed, and the more she started feeling like herself, the more he looked like he wanted to have a private word with her. 

She didn’t want a private word.

She wanted to hide, as fast as humanely possible.

Unfortunately, as Millie and Mokuba started to clear the plates and set up a washing line, she had no choice. She could sit in the kitchen, listening to the head-splitting noises, or take her chances in the bedroom.

“Wanna go for a walk?” Duke asked, as she started to stand on shaky legs.

Lilly was about to ask him if she looked like she could walk. Then she noticed her friends watching her from the corners of their eyes, and rethought her plan. 

“Sure,” she said, then glanced at him. “Except, maybe you’ll want to put something else on?” 

He shrugged. “The retro pajama look is on, I think,” he said. “My tux is still drying.” 

“You’re even more of a dork than I pegged you to be, Devlin,” Seto said, causing both Lilly and Duke to start giggling uncontrollably despite themselves. “What?”

“You said ‘pegged’.”

Seto made a disgusted noise at the back of his throat and then turned back to the coffee making. Sharona gave them both a wink before embracing him from behind. “If you’re worried about being seen on the street,” she said, cheek pressed against Seto’s back, “there is a lovely garden on the roof of this building. Oh, and Lilly? Don’t think you can climb down the side of the building again.”

***

Again? “Do I even want to know?” he asked, as the two climbed the stairs to the rooftop retreat.

“Probably not,” Lilly said. “But some hard liquor was involved in that decision, too.”

“Just liquor?”

“Some spirits too.”

Somehow that did not surprise him at all. But before he could share any observations, she entered a code into a key pad on the top of the staircase, and then they entered a tropical paradise. 

“Wow,” Duke said, looking around at the beautifully arranged palms and exotic flowers. “Now I know for sure my decorator stiffed me on the work.”

“I know, right?” Lilly said, wrapping her arms around herself. “There are days I can scarce believe I live here.”

He stopped twirling around to look at her, properly. 

She’d thrown a dressing gown over her pajamas. The glasses were back, and so was the bun. To an outsider, she looked severe and uncompromising. All he could think of was how she’d looked the same the first night he’d seen her at the club.

Speaking of the club, that seemed as good a place as any to start. “Bryan showed me your background check,” Duke said.

“I know.” Lilly looked away. “He called me as soon as you left the Sword. Didn’t expect you to start sending me gifts, though.”

“Because you thought I’d be put off by something?” He knew she hated obvious questions, but he did - honestly - feel baffled by the whole thing. “Lilly—”

“Oh, don’t give me that,” she snapped, still not meeting his eyes. “You were freaked out by the very notion of someone learning about what we do in private. I wasn’t gonna tell you I have a parole officer, too.”

He tried to stuff his hands in his pockets, and then he remembered he had none. “You’re right,” he said. “I reacted badly to the whole situation with the blackmail. You deserved to have a say in how we handled it, and I tried to take away that decision from you. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t blame you for being upset,” she said. Even he could tell she was exhausted. “I mean, fuck, I wouldn’t know how I would react if the shoe were on the other foot. I wish I’d communicated more with you about what was happening and what I was planning to do. But I never told you about talking to ghosts, or about my past—”

“And I didn’t exactly make it safe for you to tell me. I know.” Duke stepped closer, more cautiously. “Lilly… won’t you look at me? Please?”

She seemed to grit her teeth visibly, then slowly turned her head in his direction. 

“I meant what I said in that letter,” he said. “Every single word. I may have a lot of baggage to work through myself, but I was never ashamed of you. I’m sorry that I put you in a position where you had to choose between telling me and protecting us. I’m sorry for not trusting you on this. And I… I’m sorry I never asked you about your past. That was unfair. You were always trying to build trust with me and I didn’t repay you in kind.”

Lilly inhaled slowly.

“Okay,” she said.

“Okay?” 

That didn’t seem very encouraging. He didn’t feel any better when she just nodded and uncurled her hands from around her. “I accept your apology,” she said. 

“Oh…” That was… good, right? “Thank you.”

***

Eventually, it got too awkward to just stand around, looking at each other, so Lilly started to walk down the garden path, and Duke followed suit, keeping a respectable distance from her. The sun was shining, the sky was clear and blue, and there was a nice, gentle breeze blowing off the sea.

She hated it all.

“Lilly…” he said, after a while. “Where do we go from here?”

“The path just winds between the palms and the benches…”

A long, heavy sigh. “No, Lil, I meant… you and me. What’s going to happen with us?”

She wished she knew. That was part of the problem.

On another day, another time, this beautiful setting would have lifted her heart and soul. Now, all it seemed to serve was as a mocking reminder that she was trash, and she turned every relationship she had to trash, too. “I guess you’d be working even harder than before, after your success last night. Millie told me—” she added, when he opened his mouth to ask. “Well… she and my guardian spirit. I sent him over to make sure nobody gave you hassle.”

“I’d like to meet him someday,” Duke said.

Jangurian wanted to meet him, too. But Lilly willed the creature to stay hidden, at least for now. “He’s shy. A bit of a strange animal.”

“Hard to trust?”

“You have no idea.”

“I can wait,” he offered immediately. “I’m quite good at waiting.”

Lilly pursed her lips. “Duke… I’m not trying to be mean here. I appreciate the apology and everything, but you were as wronged as I was about this.”

“And yet, you were the one doing all the work,” he pointed out. “Even when you thought Serenity had betrayed us for some selfish reason of her own, you gave her a chance to come clean first. Few people would be this magnanimous. Hell, I can only think of one who would do such a thing.”

She sighed. It was strange, given her own position in life, but she felt very sorry for Serenity all of a sudden. Being held up as the embodiment of everything that is pure and good in the world was an awfully narrow, awfully tall pedestal to be set on. At least Lilly didn’t have that many expectations to justify. When she screwed up, she didn’t also have to deal with the disappointment people might feel that she is just a human being. 

“Serenity was your friend. Is your friend,” she corrected quickly. “I could not believe she would do something as cruel as blackmail on a whim. Neither would you.”

“I believe that. But I was also scared and quick to jump to conclusions. If you hadn’t intervened, I probably would have said a lot of things I would regret down the line.” He reached out, tentatively, and brushed the back of his hand down her arm. 

She swallowed and stopped walking. He took a couple of more steps before turning to face her, too.

“Duke…” she said, feeling more raw and exposed than she ought to have been, “What do _ you _ want to happen?”

He lowered his gaze and chewed on the corner of his mouth. When he spoke next, his voice was even and calm. “I want to try again. I want to be with you. And I want… I want to earn that collar you were preparing for me.”

“It’s for training.”

“Yeah. But training for what?”

He had a point. Damn it. “Listen,” she said, “I’ve never actually had my own sub before. What I do at the club is something I enjoy and it enables me to live in a way I didn’t think possible. But I don’t want this if you are only doing it to please me. Or because… I don’t know, I’m the only woman you’ve ever felt comfortable with sexually.”

Duke opened his arms. “Come here,” he said, gruffly. She didn’t want to melt, but it felt so good to have somebody hold her. She wanted to cry a little.

Maybe it was the hangover.

Yeah. She’d blame it on the hangover.

“I know you need to be sure where my boundaries are, and I didn’t make it clear the first time around,” he said. “But please trust me when I say, I would not have let you tie me up, let alone peg me, if I didn’t want this.”

Lilly snorted. 

“I get it,” he went on. “Believe me, I do. But as a wise person once told me, you can be a work in progress and still be in a relationship. I’d like to be a work in progress with you.”

She caressed his back. “Even when I’m vengeful, mean, and Medieval? Even when I scare your friends half to death?”

“Yes.”

“Even if my methods for dealing with our enemies are less than ethical?”

“I would encourage you to go down the lawful route next time,” he said. “But I don’t begrudge you for fighting back when you had your back to the wall. I just hope that next time, we can fight together.”

“You ought to know, if your company becomes as well-known as Kaiba’s, you will face a lot more scrutiny than now. We might need a plan to keep me and my friends out of the spotlight, at least for the next four or five years.”

He raised an eyebrow at that, but didn’t push back. If he’d seen her file, he would know why. And if he didn’t, he would soon put two and two together. He was a smart man. And he had her by his side. Between the two of them, they had some sort of fighting chance.

“So what do you say?” he asked, running the pads of his fingers over her face. “Will you let me have my collar… Mistress?”

“I believe,” she replied, leaning back to enjoy the day around her, “that you can certainly try to earn it. Pet.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Yu Gi Oh or Shaman King.
> 
> Final chapter. This is just shameless flirting and smut. Thought about writing something more raunchy but I figured it was time to wrap this thing up. No pun intended.

Sitting on the floor of his living room, Duke tried not to let his nerves get the better of him.

The weather forecast had been pretty grim for the afternoon - not just snow and hale, but also winds reaching ridiculous speeds per hour. They were due to go to Kaiba’s later for the gift exchange, but he was starting to think that maybe he and Lilly might have to send their apologies. 

Well… a lot depended on how their day would play out. 

“I’m just glad you two worked things out,” Pegasus had told him a their last meeting. “Just remember to invite me to your wedding, okay? An old man like me needs something to look forward to.” 

Duke smiled and adjusted the collar and cuffs on his jacket. He hadn’t told his mentor he already had a ceremony planned out. Nor what that ceremony would entail. That was probably a little too much, even for Pegasus.

Or maybe not. Who knew at this point anymore?

Dungeons, Dice and Monsters was certainly gaining in popularity, and he was pleased to see his work paying off. He was also pleased that he found sufficient flaws to keep him interested and occupied, going on random tangents and re-inventing aspects of the game that he had previously considered set in stone. It made life fun, and guaranteed his attention was firmly on the stuff he could control and not on what he could not.

What mattered most of all, right now, was that he was not under so much scrutiny as to second-guess every move and every deviation. And when he did, he had his Mistress to get him back in line.

As though he had summoned her with a thought, there was a sharp knock on on the door. Three hard raps, followed by a fourth. 

Duke stood up and checked his reflection one last time in the mirror. His school blazer and trousers still fit him, even though his visits to the gym were slowly starting to give dividend. His accessories were a delightful violation of the dress code, as was his long hair, earrings, and the guyliner. He hadn’t applied as much in a long, long time, but he liked the look. It felt more natural to him now than when he was still a kid. 

The knock came again, this time more timid. He smirked at his reflection, undid his blazer, and then opened the door.

_ Oh, this is just too perfect. _

Lilly gave him a shy smile, head bent so that she could look at him over the tops of her glasses. “Hey,” she said, fidgeting slightly. “Ready for your lesson?”

“’Course,” he said, leaning against the door so that she could slide past. His eyes raked her up and down as she took off her coat and boots, taking in every detail. “Can I offer you something? Coffee? Tea? Or maybe something stronger?” 

“Water’s fine,” she replied, primly. It was as if her getup - the tartan skirt, the brown vest, the ill-fitting button-down - had completely warped her personality. Duke felt positively gleeful.

“Your wish is my command,” he said, sauntering off into the kitchen. “You didn’t have trouble finding this place, right? I know it’s a little off the beaten path.”

“I mean, I’m here to tutor you for your exams. It’ll be kind of silly if I couldn’t read a map,” she said, pushing her glasses up her nose. “Are your parents here?”

He grinned as he handed her the glass, brushing his fingers against hers. “Not for another few hours. I’m sure you’ll get to say hi by the end of the day, though.”

She blushed. Actually blushed.

They settled down on the kitchen table and she pulled out a series of books. From the last few months, he knew they were subjects she was studying for college: psychology and criminology, cyber-security and programming. All in preparation for that day in February when she would finally be allowed to use a computer again. Officially, anyway.

“Okay, let’s start with C++, since you said that’s the thing giving you the most trouble,” she announced, opening the biggest textbook she’d brought. “Where do you want to start with?”

“The beginning seems like a good idea?” he said, innocently. “Or maybe there’s a quiz we can do together, maybe figure out where I am on the idiot scale.”

“I don’t think calling yourself an idiot would help,” she said, but flipped to a bit towards the end that held the assessments. He grinned… then answered every question correctly. Then he did the same for the next test. And the next. And the next.

The frown between her eyes deepened with each passing minute, to the point where he was tempted to end the game and kiss her until she laughed. But that would have been rude. They’d been preparing for this for months, after all.

“You’re way better at this than you think you are,” she said, closing the textbook. “Some of those answers, even I didn’t know from the get-go.”

“Must be beginner’s luck,” Duke said. “Got another C++ manual with you?”

“No. I’ll to pull something off the Internet later.” She picked up the textbook on cyber-security. “Let’s go with this one in the meantime.”

He nodded, then promptly did the same thing as before - asking if she wanted to do the quizzes first to ascertain his level, then answered all the questions perfectly.

He could do this in his sleep, even in high school. So could she, if they had to be honest.

Right now, though, Lilly did a formidable job of looking more irritated than ever, and he had to suggest they go through a lesson together so that she would know he wasn’t just reading the answers off some hidden piece of paper. She was a good teacher - her explanations were clear and patient, and he would have been happy to just sit there and take notes for the rest of time, but that wasn’t the point of the day, either.

“How about we do something this time around,” he asked, as she reached for the psychology textbook. “Keep things interesting.”

“The point of a tutorial is to help you learn, not to amuse you, Devlin,” she snapped.

“It’ll be fun for you, too, I promise. And it’s an easy game.” His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “You can easily win it, if you want.”

“I don’t know much about games,” she said, chewing on her lip. She had chapstick on, the kind that only gave a slight tint. He wondered what flavor it might be. Then he decided that he wanted to find out sooner rather than later. “What do you have in mind?”

“Nothing weird, I promise,” he said. “If I get an answer wrong, you get to touch any part of my body you like.”

Lilly burst out laughing. “Oh, is that so? Your incentive for getting things right is avoiding sexual harassment?”

“Nope. If I get things right, I get to touch you.”

She went deadly silent. Her expression was so indignant for a second Duke wondered if he had accidentally pushed it too far.

“Is this some kind of joke?” she asked. “Or did you lose a bet?”

“I told you. It’s a game.”

“Riiiight. And I bet you do that same game with Mr Simmons and your other tutors?” Her frown deepend. “Wait. Are you? Cause… that’s super illegal, you know.”

“I’m not playing those games with my other tutors,” he said. “And I’m not playing them with you. Unless you want to.”

Lilly was not convinced. “You don’t seem to have a problem with tests,” she said. “In fact, you don’t seem to have a problem with any of the material so far.”

“I like computers, I just struggle with standardized testing.” He gave her a pleading look. “I’m not great with the humanities, though, and I’m terrible with essays. Please, don’t look at me like that, Lilly. I do really need your help.”

She hesitated for a bit longer. Then she said, “We are not touching any breasts or butts or crotches, understood? And I’m _ only _ doing this to make sure you actually learn something.”

He grinned. “Right then. What’s your first test?”

She started on the questions, eyes darting around the table, looking for a cheat sheet of sorts. There was none. And quite frankly, psychology was not Duke’s strong suit. He gave the wrong answers to the first few questions, which earned him a hesitant caress from Lilly on the back of his hand, his wrist, his cheek, the middle of his chest, and finally, his knee. Every time she did, she seemed too embarrassed to maintain eye contact; she kept her touch to just a brush of her fingers. 

Then he got an answer right. Under her weary gaze, he reached down and rested his hand on her knee. 

Duke waited for a beat or two, then slid back into his seat. “Next?” he asked.

Flustered, Lilly read on. He started to gain more ground, earning him a chance to touch her calves, run his hands across her ankles, even splay his palm on her thigh. His final right answer had him put his hand on her rib-cage, just for a moment, just enough for her to feel the heat radiating off his skin. The the end of the test, her eyes were pitch black and her breathing was uneven.

“Okay,” she said, finally. “I think we found something to school you on.” Clearing her throat, she flipped to the relevant chapter and started reading. Duke pretended to listen, took appropriate notes… and kept thinking about the glimpse he’d caught as she recrossed her legs under the table. 

It was working.

“Okay then,” she said, flipping to the back of the book at the end of their lesson. “Are you ready for the next test?”

“Before we start, would you like to continue with our game?” Duke asked.

“Touch for answer? I don’t think it’s helping you stay focused.” 

“Yes, it does.” He gestured at the table. “Look at how many notes I took.”

“Quantity of output does not always signify quality of learning.”

“The proof will be in the pudding - if I take this test with no mistakes, then it’s clearly working.”

“And if you fail, I’m going to muss up your hair and smear your eyeliner all over your face.” She snapped her mouth shut and looked sheepish. “Er… I mean… sorry. That was harsh.”

“I don’t mind,” he said. “In fact, to keep this really interesting, let’s up the stakes a bit.”

She made a face. “Up them how?”

“Whatever place you touched with your hands, you have to kiss.”

This was the bit of the scene where they had really struggled with as they were working it out together. There had to be a transition from the seduction and into the corruption, but he couldn’t come up with a way he would have done it (or at least, a more suave, confident version of him would have done it) until Lilly suggested a wager and an escalating series of bets. He’d worried that maybe this would not be something her character would have gone for, until she reminded him of her own fantasy. 

The game was for her as much as it was for him. She wanted to get him to feel confident about exploring a side of his own desire that he was too shy to do usually, and it was hard. Harder than either of them imagined. 

Right now, he could see her struggle to come up with something, in character, that she might say. And he tried to think of what his character - the boy who had game but was trying to show the nerdy girl he was really into her - would do.

“If you are sure I didn’t learn anything, then my hair and my guyliner are gone for,” he said. “You have nothing to lose.”

“This game is stupid.”

“Not feeling so confident?”

Lilly sneered. “Fine. I’ll raise you your stupid wager. Question one.”

He answered correctly. Without taking his eyes off hers, he slid off his chair and onto the floor, and then placed a hot, wet kiss on her knee. “Next?” he asked, not rising up.

Her voice shook as she read. He answered them correctly, one after another, pressing kisses down her legs, then over her skirt on her left thigh, then her right. 

“Any more questions?” he asked, head practically on her lap. She would not look down. “I seem to recall there being one more in the last test.”

Lilly shivered. She started reading, but he interrupted her, answering fully and without hesitation. “That…” she swallowed. “That is correct.”

“Mhm. Guess the system is helping me learn after all,” he said and kissed her ribs, over her shirt and vest.

Or, at least, he tried to. With a violent jerk backward, Lilly stood up, sending her chair skidding across the floor. Covering her mouth, she turned away, braced against the kitchen counter, and breathed hard. 

He watched her, keeling from the floor. Waiting.

“Why did you do that for?” she hissed. “Why?”

“I think you know the answer to that, Lilly.”

Her laughter sounded painted. “Oh, sure. You bring me here under false pretenses, you embarrass me, and then you try to seduce me. And you have the gall to say this isn’t some kind of cruel joke?” 

If he were in high school, he would have never pulled off this kind of prank. Yet, here they were, turning this into a part of their repertoire. Duke slowly rose to his feet and walked over until she was caged between his body and the counter. 

“It’s no joke, and I’m not acting on a bet,” he whispered. “I’m doing it because I think you’re beautiful, Lilly. I’m doing it because it hurts not to touch you.” His palms ran down from her shoulders, all the way to the tops of her hands. “I’m doing it,” he paused to kiss her neck, “because I have seen you look at me across the schoolyard. I know what fire you’ve got in your eyes when you think no-one else is noticing. And it’s killing me to think somebody else will have it.”

“What makes you think they already haven’t?” she asked, mouth twisted. “What makes you think I’ll just give myself over to you?”

“Nothing,” he admitted, smiling. “Nothing at all. But I want to try. Please, Lilly? I want to make you feel good.”

She let out a long, shaky breath as he moved his hands to her ribs, first over her sweater and then under it. He could feel her skin burning through the fabric of her shirt. 

“Please?” he asked. 

“That’s… so not fair,” she said, but she was starting to undulate her hips. “You’re so gorgeous and I’m—”

“A goddess,” he said, without hesitation. “Albeit one that doesn’t care much about her looks. A warrior and a protector.” He started to bunch the shirt up, slowly pulling it loose. “Please?” he asked for the third time.

She gave a sound of frustration, grabbed his hand and slid it on the bare skin of her stomach.

“Is that a yes?” he asked. 

“I—” she turned her head away from him, gasping as his other hand climbed up the back of her thigh, caressing the skin between the end of her stocking and the edge of her thong.

“You said no touching butts, breasts, or groins,” he said. “I won’t do that until you give me permission… Mistress.”

“Yes,” she sighed. “Yes, yes, yes.”

Without further ado, he slipped his hand up and found her breast, squeezing it and rolling the nipple between his fingers until it was pebbled and sensitive. At the same time, his other moved the crotch of her panties aside and started to stroke her. Duke growled. “You’re so wet, Lil,” he whispered. “Is that for me? Did our little game please you?”

“Yes.”

“It’s not ending soon. Wanna know what the next wager was?”

“Kissing under the clothes?”

He turned her so that she faced him. “Bingo,” he grinned - every inch the bad boy he had pretended to be in school, every bit the man he had grown up to become. The man who accepted affection - whose girlfriend kissed him in a moment of unscripted passion - as easily as he gave it.

“You think I’m that easy?” she whispered against his mouth. Her hands were quickly undoing his shirt and tie, uncovering the red and black collar sitting underneath. He felt her slip her fingers underneath, pulling him closer. “Hm? Is that so, Duke Devlin?”

“I think you are the most precious person I could have by my side,” he said. “And I am so happy to belong to you.”

“That so?” she grinned. “Prove it.”

Duke was only happy to oblige.

Then. 

And every day after if he had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are the one person other than me who read this, and you got to the end, I salute you. 
> 
> I'm not stopping with this series, by the by. Even if it is just for my own amusement, it's gonna end one way or another.
> 
> I'm in quarantine. Boredom must be fought at all costs. 
> 
> But if you are feeling generous, a like and a little review are very much appreciated.


	23. Author's Note

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a chapter, please bear with me.

Hi. 

I don't live in the USA. I don't have much of a platform. I'm not able to attend any marches.

But I want to use whatever platform I have to spread information and help. I have listed a few links and organisations here and at some of my other fics. If my work gives you pleasure, please donate. Sign petitions. Call your elected representatives, if you are in the USA. Keep yourselves informed and alert if you aren't.

Please. Thank you.

Organizations, Petitions & Go Fund Me:  
(these links come from Bailey Sarians latest video, she had great links so I'll use the same, go check out her video right here: https://youtu.be/iig8BEP-sOw )  
Color Of Change - https://colorofchange.org/  
Movement For Black Lives - https://m4bl.org/  
NAACP - https://www.naacpldf.org/  
Undocublack -https://undocublack.org/  
Petition for George Floyd - https://www.change.org/p/mayor-jacob-frey-justice-for-george-floyd?utm_source=brand_us&utm_medium=media  
Minnesota Freedom Fun - https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/  
Reclaim The Block - https://secure.everyaction.com/zae4prEeKESHBy0MKXTIcQ2  
Go Fund Me For George Floyd Family - https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd


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